Spiritchaser A Tribute to Dreamcast PSO
by SpiritofPSO
Summary: A young boy named Drake McCloud loses his friends to a devastating fiend named Faltz. Drake goes on a huge quest that covers nine episodes of exploring to find his lost friends. But the question is: What really ruined his life?


By Alex, also known as Drake McCloud, which is also known as the Spiritchaser _________ -A Tribute to Dreamcast Phantasy Star Online -A True Story Lived by Real People Online Cast of Characters- Alex- Drake McCloud, the Spiritchaser! Chance- Skunk Martin- Gadwin Iredia- BLACKBALLA Brett- ID Bryan- DARKRAIN  
  
Before it Starts: ___________________________________  
The fall of the first-ever made online console game saddened me. After three years, it finally came to an end. When days were gloomy, I would log on to this game in hope of finding something to do. I could remember only one time out of about nine hundred times that I got offline on my own free will. And that would be when none of my friends were online. Friendship really made this game what it was worth. This story is a tribute to all of the wonderful times I had online. A tribute to all of the friends I made. Yes, this is a true story, and it was actually recorded on tape. All of the people are real, and every person who was in this helped create some part of the storyline. There was just no feeling like it when you got on Phantasy Star Online. There was nothing more fun than this wonder of excitement. My lost friends, Chad, Tyler, and Akane. I still look for them this day. I will still fight to get to the friends that I lost. If you look at this story the way I do, you will be personally moved by this story. The only thing that kept it going was the inspiration that filled me while I was writing this. Like I said, it really saddens me to see this experience go down, and I am going to make it live on through this piece of fan fiction. If I could only finish what I started. I am the Spiritchaser, guardian of the lost, and this is my story. _______________________________________________________________ EPISODE 1: THE BIRTH OF FALTZ ___________________________ CHAPTER 1: Preparations _______________________________________________________________  
This story begins on a ship called Pioneer 2. The members onboard are waiting for a final decision. A final decision on where they are going to settle. A young boy named Drake McCloud sits outside of the principal's office waiting for the declaration. Drake paced back and forth in earnest. "What is taking so long?" He looked towards the teleporter and saw a being emerge out. It was a scientist; he was short and had very long hair that was all in curls. He was a scientist, alright. One of the smartest ones aboard. He walked over to one of the soldiers sitting beside Drake. He then said, "Come on. The principal wants to speak with you." Drake watched on as the soldier walked into the teleporter.  
The soldier was a ranger, also known as a RAmar. He was as tall as they came and was medium proportion. He had green clothes and a large crossbow in his inventory. Let's take it into the ranger's point of view. The ranger walked up to the principal. He looked at him and said, "What do you ask of me?" The principal replied, "Find yourself a suitable partner and when you do, come back to me. We're going with the immigrant movement. When we get there, you and your partner will explore the area and analyze everything there." "Is that all?" "Yes. Just don't fool around... I've seen some of your other mission reports. What was that nonsense about..? You were slacking on the job last time... I saw in the report that you were playing TAG with your last partner in the medical room. Please... don't do that again..." "I won't sir. I'll make sure that the job gets done." The ranger walked out of the room into the teleport.  
Drake watched as the Ranger ran up to a small ranger. The ranger we were just listening in on whispered something into the other ranger's ear and they both ran off. Drake stood up and went towards the bank of Pioneer 2. His friends were there, Chad and Tyler. They were equally excited to see him. Chad walked up to Drake and said, "What took you so long to get here?" Drake replied with a stern face, "I was just eavesdropping on some rangers near the principals office. Nothing really serious. It looked as if the guys were actual jokes... no, literally." Chad started laughing. He knocked Drake on the shoulder and said, "Good work, detective. You just keep finding more and more things out there, don't you?" "No, not really. I wouldn't care for those rules the principal hands out or anything. Principalities... all nonsense..." "It seems so... Hey, look, I hear that we're all making a move to another planet. Tyler over here is going to be my neighbor. What's your address on the ship?" "Oh, I won't be anywhere near you guys. I'm stuck all by myself in the seventh district." "Suit yourself then. When we get to that new planet, though, Tyler and I are going straight down there with Pioneer 1 and we're going to get the first settlements!" "Good luck." Drake walked away from his friends and sat down by the principal teleporter again. ______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 2: Drake, the Hunter ______________________________________________________________  
A few days later, the principal called Drake to his office. Drake was a little bit concerned. Had he gotten himself in definite trouble? It seemed so, for the principal didn't seem in a good mood. Principal Tyrell stepped up to Drake.  
Principal Tyrell was slightly tall and was in huge proportion. He wore a long robe that signified his presence in detail and looked as powerful as an ox. Well, it seemed that way; on the other hand, Tyrell was a good person and didn't hesitate to do good action.  
Drake gulped in fright as he looked upon Tyrell. Tyrell then finally spoke. "Are you Drake McCloud?" "Yes sir, I am." "Did you hear anything a few days ago when you were sitting by the teleporter?" Drake shuddered and thought for a few moments. "Well, umm..." Drake knew that the wrong thing to do would be to lie, so he did the inevitable. "Yes, I heard everything." The principal's face turned away in disgrace. Drake knew he was going to have to think of some way to back himself up, but nothing came up. The principal turned back to Drake and said, "Fine... I know this is a hard decision for me... but, you, my boy, are going to be a soldier." Drake's eyes widened. "I now pronounce you a HUmar, Mr. Drake McCloud." Drake was in honor to recieve such a reward. He sighed in relief and said, "Me? A HUmar? You can't be serious, principal. I'm only fourteen years of age! I'm no soldier!" "Trust me. It's your only choice. If you were to be discovered with the information you heard, then I would have no choice but to execute you. Be proud." Drake looked around to see if anyone was overhearing. It was only him and the principal. Drake finally replied, "I accept this duty. Yes, you will be proud of me, Mr. Principal Tyrell. I will accomplish my duty and be the best I can be." The principal smiled and said, "Good. I will notify you of your first mission when we arrive on the planet. This planet we are going to is called... Ragol. Until we arrive, let us depart. I have someone I need to talk to. Farewell, my young one." Drake walked out of the room going through the teleport. When he got out, he jumped into the air with joy and shouted, "It's time to fly!" _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 3: Towards Ragol _______________________________________________________________  
  
After long days of waiting, the day had finally came. Pioneer 1 and 2 were heading towards Ragol. Pioneer 1 was the mother ship. It had nearly all of the weapons, armor, and important things on it. It had the majority of people as well. This was the ship Chad and Tyler were departing on. Drake would be on Pioneer 2; it was, in basic terms, the "other" ship. Anything that wasn't on Pioneer 1 was on Pioneer 2. It had a small majority of people and inventory, but it was nothing compared to Pioneer 1. The two ships headed out towards the mysterious planet known as Ragol.  
  
Three and a half years later, Drake was still waiting for arrival on Ragol. He was now seventeen years old and no longer a "kid" soldier. In fact, the principal had not even called upon him. It was boring on Pioneer 2. Drake had no communication with Chad and Tyler, except for laser communication they had used ever since they were small children. There weren't many symbols to it, just laser movement that said, "Hello, goodbye, and thank you." Basically, there wasn't much to it.  
Well, to the point, in this period of the story we meet one of the most important characters in the story. One day, Drake had went to the training center on Pioneer 2 and he found a young man about his age. This young man was simply destroying every training bot in his way. Bot after bot, the young man sliced away with his special saber. Drake looked upon him in amazement. When the young man had cleared out that stage, he walked over to Drake. The young man was the first to speak. "Hello. What's your name?" "Oh, I'm Drake. I was watching your display of skills and I was just wondering how you did that so well." "Oh, it's just a hitch. I practice here a lot, and I always practice on the same level of difficulty." "Oh! So what level are you ranked right now?" "Well, I would say I'm Level 95." "Wow! Hey, what's your name?" "My name is... Chance, but the military refers me as Skunk." "Skunk is your codename..? Why's that?" "Well, I just... never mind." "No problem." "So do you want to try out this training ground?" "I'll try at it."  
Drake stepped up into the training ground and brought out his new light saber. A small robot popped down from the ceiling, but Drake quickly took care of it. "Wow!" Drake exclaimed. "Does it get harder?" "Oh, yes, Drake, it gets MUCH harder from here." "Thanks for the warning." Drake leveled up to Level 2 and continued onto the next robots, which were much bigger than the others. They weren't big enough for Drake though, as he easily destroyed them with a swipe of his light saber. Drake leveled up quickly to Level 3, and the robots then grew wings! _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 4: Training Session One _______________________________________________________________  
One of the new robots emerged and quickly swiped at Drake. Drake dodged away from the robot and jumped up to the ceiling, hanging onto a pole. He unequipped his saber and kicked the robot in the chest part. The robot was knocked to the floor, but he got up again. He did a two-hit combo on Drake, which nearly paralyzed the young man. It didn't though, so Drake still had some fight left in him. Drake dodged more punches by the robot and stopped the following punches with his hands. Drake then tossed the robot into the air at a fast speed. In mid-air, the robot pulled out a small purple laser gun that was equipped on the insides of his arm. The robot shot the laser at Drake. In slow motion, the laser hurtled toward Drake, but when it came to him, Drake did a three-sixty kick onto the laser, knocking it back up into the air. The laser went up and hit the robot right in the head.  
The robot fell to the ground dropping its laser onto the ground. Drake rolled over to the laser and threw it towards Chance. "Catch, Chance!" Chance caught the laser in mid-air and gave it to a nearby friend. The friend was a tall male; his skin color was black, and he had an afro, which was also black. He was very tall, and was a HUmar. He was medium proportion and had black clothes. The black HUmar looked on at the battle that was enraging in the room.  
After a long period of waiting, the robot regained its circuits and punched Drake in the face. Drake flew into a wall, barely missing the machine that was controlling the robots. The robot ran over to Drake doing another two-hit punch combo. Drake couldn't endure much more pain, for he was about to pass out. The robot got out another laser on its other arm, and was aiming for Drake. At that instance, the blast was fired and it hit Drake's face. On that small split second, Drake had hit the chest area of the robot that he had made an attack on earlier. At that very moment, Drake had destroyed the robot and leveled up. With the level up, Drake had regained all of his strength back because of the machine in the room. The battle was over, and Drake was Level 4.  
Drake exited the room before more robots could emerge and attack him. He walked over to Chance. "Can you make anything from that laser part?" "Yes, if I can hook it up to that machine in the training room." "Who's the guy who you handed the part to?" "We call him Agent BLACKBALLA, or Bballa for short." "Where is he now?" "If you didn't notice, he walked into the training room just as you left." "What level is he?" "Oh, he just started out. He was looking for guidance training, so he came to me." "I think he chose the right person." "Yeah, if you insist."  
After that small conversation, Drake headed out to the bank, where he and his friends usually gathered. Drake looked around for Chance, but he was nowhere to be found. "Oh no! I didn't get his guild card! Now I won't be able to find him later...!" Drake sat down, as if he were waiting for a sign to come to him. Chance wasn't coming. He waited a while and finally decided he would need to go home. He then went to his home in District Seven. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 5: Reunion of Friends _______________________________________________________________  
Another three and a half years later, the Pioneer ships had finally arrived on the landing point to Ragol. The principal called all of the hunters on Pioneer 2 to the office. Drake walked up to the teleport where he saw hundreds of other hunters like him. He saw the ranger at the beginning of our story, but his partner was nowhere to be found.  
When everyone was finally gone, Drake was called to the office. The principal would now address Drake's first mission. The principal was a bit nervous about this, but he knew it would all come out right.  
At the time, Drake was Level 12 and was doing well. He was ready for anything, but he knew he didn't need to train all of the time.  
Well, it was time. Drake walked into the office looking at the principal. The principal had a very proud face on him. He started. "Drake, you are going to be happy to know that your first mission will accompany you and your two friends, Chad and Tyler." "How do you know... about.. them?" "Drake, little do you know, I DO know everything that goes on around here. I've analyzed their information, and admitted both of them as hunters." "What did you register them as?" "Chad is a RAmar, and Tyler is a HUmar. Chad's codename is Blade. Tyler's codename is Frost." "And I'm certain that Chad.. er.. Blade has a friend of his, whose name is Akane. Does she have anything to do with this?" "Oh, yes, she is a FOmarl, and she will be used well in the assignment I have for her." "What... assignment?" "That is confidential, and not in your case." "OK, then what are we to do?" "You, Blade, Frost, and Akane will explore Ragol. If you find anything unusual, you are to report it to me immediately." "And if nothing unusual is there?" "Your mission would then be complete." "And my duties after that?" "That will be my decision only." "No problems with that, sir." "Good. Now head out. The Pioneer 1-Pioneer 2 connection bridge is set. In the middle is a teleport to the visual lobby. You can meet up with your friends there." "That's fine with me." "So what are you waiting for? I don't mean to be rude, but your mission is very important. Head out, my young one." "Yes, sir."  
With a quick notice, Drake headed out as planned and went into a teleport that led to the Pioneer 1-Pioneer 2 connecting bridge. From the hunter's guild, he slipped into a space suit and climbed down the ladder that led outside. Space was desolate at the time. Not a single bit of life hung before it, but there was life. Life that hung... in the balance.  
Drake climbed up the ladder that led into the visual lobby and slipped off his space suit. Blade was waiting, as was Frost, but Akane was nowhere to be found. Drake was the first to speak. "It's been a while." "You still live as the same person, I see," Blade replied. "Drake, it's been seven years." "Yes... a long seven years that have confused me." "What's happened?" "It was... nothing. Just nothing." "Well, I have some disturbing news, it seems." "OK, now what exactly has happened to YOU?" "Akane has left me, and she has disappeared. I don't know what happened." "She's a part of our mission, though! We need her! The principal told me...!" "The principal is full of it. You said that yourself, remember?" "But you trust him the same way!" "Only to satisfy Akane's wishes. But now, she is gone." "So it has to be like this..." Drake turned to Frost, who had patiently been waiting and watching with a keen eye. Frost never spoke. Drake then walked over to Frost. "So, Tyler, are you fine with this mission?" "I guess so. I'm with you guys." "Good." After that was said, an intercom buzzed in the lobby.  
Drake was being called on the intercom. "DRAKE MCCLOUD, PLEASE COME TO THE PIONEER 2 TRAINING ROOM IMMEDIATELY." Drake looked away in surprise. He put on his space suit and bid his friends farewell for the minute. "I'll fill this duty and meet you on Pioneer 1." Blade replied, "You better hurry. We're landing on Ragol in a few minutes!" "Holy cow! Why didn't anyone tell me!?" "Just go.. and hurry!" Drake put his thumb in the air as a good luck symbol and climbed down the ladder. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 6: Landing _______________________________________________________________ Drake ran down the platforms that led to Pioneer 2 as fast as he possibly could. He passed by a few people that were heading towards the lobby. There were a few androids, but Drake couldn't recognize any of them. One of the androids were completely black, and was carrying a double light saber. Drake headed on as if he didn't see him.  
When Drake had finally arrived on Pioneer 2, the landing countdown was at two minutes. The young hunter ran through the Hunter's Guild passing by all of the excited civilians. He ran into the Training Room, and saw that no one was inside. "What's this?" Drake looked down and saw a piece of paper. It said, "Dear Drake McCloud, we of the training committee know that you recently used the training device, and didn't sign out. Please walk up to the training room machine and sign out."  
The training room device was the same that I mentioned earlier in the story, but it was in bad condition. Drake paused. "Hmm... I havent recently used the machine. That was three years ago! And there is n0 training room committee! This room was a donation by the principal's daughter, Rico!" Drake walked up to the machine and pressed a few buttons to see if he could get to the "User Profile" screen.  
The hunter, Drake McCloud, looked at all of the people's names that had used the training room. "Why would someone have to make an account just to use something that was a donation to society?" He then noticed a very odd thing. Blade's name was on the profile list. "Blade...! But he was... on.. Pioneer 1! Impossible!" Drake put his hand on the machine in disbelief. As soon as that happened, someone stepped into the room without Drake noticing. The unknown being pulled out a giant gun. He aimed closely.  
The countdown for landing was going to occur in just thirty seconds. The unknown being watched as Drake was in confusion. Drake was so shocked to see that Blade was on the Pioneer 2 ship the whole seven years! The unknown being noticed this and smiled an evil smile. The countdown was at five seconds. Five... four... three... two... one... at that final second, the unknown man shot Drake from outside of the room. Multiple shots flew out and hit Drake. Drake hit the ground fast and cried out. "Crap!" Drake pulled his head up and tried to find his assassinator. The man was gone. Drake turned around and saw the training room machine in flames.  
The training room machine exploded and all of space lit up! The universe was crumbling and falling apart. Drake looked around while he was lying on the ground. He could barely keep his eyes open. He was bleeding profusely. He then collapsed, saying, "I'll find you." Drake then slowly passed away. Drake... was dead. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 7: Explanation _______________________________________________________________  
People were everywhere. They were looking at themselves in grief. A ranger was watching all of this unfold. "So.. a young boy dead right when we land on Ragol. Wait... I think I know that boy! I've seen him somewhere before." The ranger walked into the circle of people that were looking at the scene. The ranger looked at himself. "And this new life that we claim for ourselves. We... are... a game? LMAO!!" The ranger burst out laughing and realized what the training room machine had done. "SO THIS MACHINE MESSED US UP DIDN'T IT?" The ranger kneeled down at Drake, who was dead. "Thanks to you, we are a video game, and controlled by the human race. Are you proud?" Yes, that was right. Pioneer 1, Pioneer 2, and Ragol were all a video game now, as strange as it sounded. People could do unnatural things with devices and such. There was no stopping the madness!  
The ranger then realized he had new knowledge by this new transformation. He knew techniques. He looked at the boy, Drake, and thought for a moment. "Maybe... just maybe... I can revive this boy!" The ranger concentrated his mind on Drake, and in an instant, he revived Drake with a technique!  
Drake stood up confused. "Where... am.. I?" The ranger replied, "You're in the training room, where you died." "THEN HOW AM I ALIVE??" "Whoops, didn't tell ya about that. I revived you." "But how!!!?" "****it! Uh.. can't really explain that... well, sort of... yeah, I can explain.. no, wait..." "Just tell me what I missed!" "When you destroyed the training room machine, the entire universe exploded. We were all destroyed for many years, but our entire existence was revived by humans from another universe. They're a team of game designers called Sega! Yeah... that's right!" You could tell that the man was making all of this up as he went. Drake collapsed in disbelief. He finally replied, "I... didn't.. mean... to destroy the machine." Drake walked away slowly. A face above was watching all of this. The face snickered and blew a breath. Instantly, everything the ranger had said had become true. A team of video game designers called Sega were taking over and they were naming the game, "Phantasy Star Online"! _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 8: A Game of No Hope _______________________________________________________________  
For many years to come, Drake had not showed his face in public. The "game" had become the first online console game to ever be made by the humans named Sega. They had took over the world with addiction, and they were steadily bringing more users onto the servers. But just as there were many people joining... there were people disappearing at the same time.  
After two years, Drake arrived back on the scene. He saw all of the changes that occured. The "Phantasy Star Online" fever was cooling down, and his old friends were nowhere to be found. It was obvious that maybe Blade and Tyler were destroyed by the universal explosion. In fact, Drake knew this for certain. He searched through his guild cards and finally found a familiar face. The cards were lighting up! Someone he knew was online!  
When the guild cards had finished searching, they had only found one person, a man codenamed BishBashBosh. It was true. This game was dying. Drake was saddened by this, but at the same time happy. He could finally talk to a friend. He ran to the lobby that BishBashBosh was in, and started talking to him. "My friend... do you remember me?" Bish replied, "Hmm... I wouldn't say so. Were you the one that disappeared just after the beginning?" "Yes, that was me. So.. how's it going?" "Well, I'm just a lonely soul. I run around the lobbies talking to people. I never really do go down to Ragol, and 'play' this game." "What do you mean?" "I mean.. that this may have been the first ever made online console game, but there's nothing here!" "So this game has really messed up our lives..." "Yes! But that's not what I mean! There is only one area open to the public. Sega is guarding the rest of Ragol with a giant dragon in the Central Dome!" "A dragon!?" "Yes! Well, my friend, I must get offline for now. I've got to get some rest." "OK, get back on tomorrow. We can talk some more." "Cool cool. Schnoodle noodle!" "What?" Before the weird man could reply, he was gone and had went offline. Drake headed out to a safe place and went to sleep. He went offline. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 9: Mission of Despair _______________________________________________________________  
Days passed, without Bish getting online once again. Drake was confused. Every friend he had had disappeared. What was causing all of this? Drake searched for his lost friends for months with no success. Many claimed to know them, but the cases always led to false claims. One day, Drake was called to the principal's office. It had been a long time since the principal and him had talked. The principal was delighted to see Drake. He started. "Drake, I know you've been trying to find your lost friends, and I know your first mission was canceled." "Yes, that's true." "Well, I have some good news!" "I don't think anything can be good in this universe anymore." "Well, there is something good! I am going to assign your codename!" "But why? You know I have no partner." "Well, if you just so happen find a partner, you can use it!" "OK then, what is it?" "You... are the Spiritchaser." "The Spiritchaser...I like it... but don't be fooled. You won't be seeing me much longer." "What?" "I'm going to see if any of these foolish hackers out here can make some use of me." "You plan on suicide!?" "Why not? I have nothing to live for, and nothing to play for anyway." "Spirit! Please! Just don't do this! Live!" "I told you before. I have nothing to live for..." Spirit headed out to the transporter. The principal made one last effort to stop him. "Spirit, I do have a purpose for you! Find my daughter!" "What?" "My daughter, Rico, was on Pioneer 1." "So? I could find her just by walking into a large crowd." "No, I'm afraid to say this, but... there is no Pioneer 1." "Puh-lease." "No, really, Pioneer 1 was destroyed... right when you destroyed the Training Room Machine." Spirit stepped back. He then realized it. He had killed his own friends that were on Pioneer 1... or had he? Blade and Tyler were on Pioneer 1.. or either the lobby when the explosion happened. Spiritchaser frowned. "Oh, Tyrell, you're a real help! Now I certainly have a purpose... a purpose to die!" Spirit headed out going towards the lobby. The principal put a sad face on and sat down in his chair. He felt as if he had just committed murder. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 10: A New Connection _______________________________________________________________  
Spirit climbed down the ladder, in his space suit, to the connection bridge. He then realized WHY Pioneer 1 was shut off. It didn't exist. Ragol was shut off, but Spirit didn't know why. The boy was now a man, and he felt as if he was going to his last walk. In some cases, he was.  
Drake finally arrived in the visual lobby. He looked around. He was in the Oberon lobby, the domain of all hackers. He stepped up immediately. "After three long years of this game, I demand someone in this room to freeze my game forever! Kill me now! Please!" Little did Spirit know, the ranger he had talked to months before just so happened to be standing in the same room as him. The ranger stepped up. "Why, young man, you would only just reset our games in a counter attack! What's the purpose?" "No, I'm not a hacker, or I would have done the damage myself." "Lol, you see, it's not that easy." "What do you mean it's not that easy!?" "I mean you're overreacting!" "Why, I wouldn't be overreacting! I caused this abomination of a messed up game in the first place! I am Drake McCloud! Before this was even made, I had a life! A good life with my friends, but I went insane and took it all away! I destroyed it all, and Sega was just happy enough to revive the insanity, and they continue to haunt me! Please, I couldn't be overreacting! I'm perfectly sane in this new form!" "Oh," said the ranger, who didn't recognize the man who he had talked to before. "Well, may I make a request?" "If it's a request to kill me, yes!" "I'll show you what it means to play this game. You can make new friends!" "New friends... they're all mindless hackers!" "I'm not a mindless hacker. I'm just stupid in some ways." Spirit laughed and replied, "Heh, you're pretty funny for an insane hacker. Maybe I shouldn't accuse you of prejudice." "Yeah, that's right. Uh... accept my apologies and take my request." "Fine. I'll give you a day to show me how precious it is to live." "Good. Now join my team, or should I say, game?" "Either way, it's only temporary." "My name is Gadwin." "Nice to meet you." "Greetings for the first time I see." "Now let's get started. You only have twenty-four hours." Drake pulled out a probe from his backpack. He started, "This probe is my little mag. He helps me out. In other words, I use this mag to destroy, defend, help, and record my progress. With this mag, I will record everything that happens on our journey. As a hunter, you should know about our mission by now." "What would that be?" "To find the principal's daughter, Rico, and explore Ragol." "That might take a while." "Nonetheless, I have plenty of tape to record." "OK, but first, we need to make an arrival on Pioneer 2. A few of my friends are waiting." "That's fine with me." "Follow me." And they headed out... two warriors capable of defeating any being... or at least that's what they thought. Their only enemy was time. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 11: Beginning of a Journey _______________________________________________________________  
Gadwin and Spirit finally finished their conversation in Oberon. As Drake guessed, Gadwin was a hacker, but he wasn't an evil one who killed people on the ships or in public. He just used codes to help his advantage.  
Gadwin jumped into an air ship awaiting Spirit. He looked at Drake. "Get in." "Crap no! Not with you as the driver!" "Ohhh, it's just to another lobby!" "I don't care!" "Hmm... what if I give you some stuff when we get there?" Drake's eyes widened. "What kind of things...?" "Stuff." "Er... whatever... just don't crash and make us fall into space. Sega didn't figure out a way to prevent that..." "Just get in the stupid ship." "It can't be stupid. It doesn't have a brain." "I have a brain. It's just not very useful." "Lol..." "Haha, made ya laugh." "Stupidity makes me laugh. How can I help it?" "By getting in this air ship." "Fine."  
Drake carefully stepped into the ship. Gadwin was impatient. "Don't look down." Drake looked down and saw the space below. He shrieked out, "NO WAY! NEVER! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME GET IN!" Drake jumped out of the ship quickly. Gadwin stepped out as well. "Fine, we'll walk..." "Hurrraaayyyy!!!" "Lmao..."  
The two put on some space suits and climbed down the ladder that went outside. Gadwin made a remark. "I'm just surprised you didn't go crazy over that." "Hmph." The two ran down the ramp heading for Pioneer 2. Gadwin and Spirit arrived... safely... and went into the Hunter's Guild. Gadwin started, "OK, the team has been registered. They should be here." "Well, where are they? This is considered as a part of Pioneer 2." "Dunno." The two cautiously looked around. They went around the corner. Gadwin got out a rifle and looked around another corner. "Spirit, back me up." "Why would I need to!? I thought these were your friends! Not assassins!" "One of them IS a Demonic Assassin." "Oh..." "Keep your guard up." Drake pulled out a light saber. Gadwin looked at him sternly. "What the ****? You're going to use that?" "It's the only thing I have." "Lmao!" "Not my fault." "What do you mean?" "Just pay attention." "How can I pay attention? You are using a crappy saber." "Just cooperate then!" "Lmao..." "So... what do you want me to do?" "I want you to catch this." Gadwin threw a gun into the air. Drake caught it and looked at it. "YOU GAVE ME A VARISTA?!?" "Uh... its a 'special' gun." "Really now..." Drake pulled around the corner with the Varista in his hand. Agent Spiritchaser ran up near the principal's teleporter. He went in.  
Drake looked behind him. "What the crap? Where did he go?" Gadwin was nowhere to be found. Anyway, Drake stepped forward slowly. In a team, everyone on Pioneer 2 except the team are bots. Just AI programmed by Sega. Drake didn't like them. He didn't like seeing the principal act like a complete idiot.  
Drake stepped up to the principal's counter. He looked behind it, but there was nothing there. He turned over to a scientist's desk. He rolled to the side of it pointing his Varista in the direction of the scientist bot. Nothing was behind this counter either. There was one more counter left. It was the principal's assisstant's desk. Drake walked up to it with caution. He yelled out, "OK, you fiend! Step away from this desk and I WON'T SHOOT THIS WEAPON AT YOU!!" He pointed the Varista over the desk, but surprisingly there was no one there.  
Spirit walked out of the principal's room slowly and was back at the main center of Pioneer 2. He looked to the side of him. He saw Gadwin. Drake yelled out, "WHAT THE CRAP!?? YOU FOUND HIM AND DIDN'T TELL ME!?" Gadwin replied, "Well, heh, uh... I sort of got into a serious conversation." "Lol..." "This is Spike of the Demonic Assassins." Drake looked down at the man. Yes, he looked down. The man was a midget. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 12: The Replacement of Disaster _______________________________________________________________  
"So... this is Spike...," Drake started. "I never would have guessed it." Gadwin stepped over to Drake. "Well," Gadwin replied, "he's smaller than you." "Yeah, small people are cool." "No they're not." "Yes, they are, and put commas in your sentence." "I don't know good English." "Lmao." "Lol." Spike just so happened to be a hacker as well. He didn't kill people like the evil ones either. As it seemed, it looked as if Spike was the ranger that the ranger at the beginning of the story walked up to. Drake then realized this.  
"I saw you guys about ten years ago!" "Has it really been that long?" "Yes!" "****! I'm getting old!" "It was only ten years..." "Who gives a ****!" "Lmao." "Gadwin," the small guy finally spoke, "Where is Vahn...?" Gadwin put a small frown on his face. He replied, "He's not here right now... but anyway, " Gadwin changed the subject, "let's do something."  
Gadwin put his rifle back into his inventory and looked at Spiritchaser. "So, Drake, how am I going to prove to you what life really means...?" Spike was startled by this conversation. He jumped in, "What the **** are you talkin' about..?" "Lmao, it's weird how he met me." "So... tell me how it happened." Gadwin got into a private conversation with Spike, as Drake turned around.  
The team information had said that there were two people in the game before they came in. Someone else was here. Spirit walked away from the scene searching for the unidentified person. He pulled out the Varista he was using a few minutes ago, and carefully searched the area.  
Spirit walked towards the medical center, expecting to find something he was looking for. He found nothing, but as soon as he was to come out of the room, he stumbled across the former site of the Pioneer 2 training room. It wasn't there. Instead, Drake saw two guards guarding this huge door. Drake stepped forward to look inside as one of the guard bots stopped him. "Freeze! This section is for authorized soldiers only!" Drake showed the guards his ID card. The two guards were confused at the card, for it looked as if Drake had gotten it under age. They stopped him again.  
"Where do you think you got this card, young man?" Drake replied, "I'm not a young man, and if you would like to know, you could have asked nicely. If you really, really want to know where I got this stupid card, I insist for you to ask the principal. If he doesn't want to answer, you can come back to me. And if that doesn't seem to work on my schedule, you can just take this section ID and stick it up your candy freakin'...! No, I'll stop there, for I'm not just an immature little fiend that wants to get in your way. I'm more than that. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have a job! DO YOU... understand... ME?" The guards were shocked by Drake's behavior. "If you two guards want to stop me from going into this portal, you go right ahead! You WON'T succeed! In fact, you may just... seriously, prevent me from doing much worse damage than I would do right now!" The guards dropped their weapons and bowed to Drake in honor. They replied, "We thank you for telling us a vision of truth. We ought to not question the rights of men." "No, my two friends, you are to question the rights of man, but not as I would step up to you and stop an inch of your life from reaching his lifetime goal. I am here to make a well-known difference. By the end of all of this, you will know your benefactor, and you will know him very, very well." Drake walked into the room, and saw the portal that consisted of transportation to another planet. He looked at the portal as someone came out of it. It was the second man. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 13: Stroke of Luck... or Not... _______________________________________________________________  
The second man stepped up to Drake and greeted him. "Hello. My name is... Kyosuke." Drake replied with consistent action, "Nice to meet you. I'm Drake, Drake McCloud." "Hmm... haven't seen many Drakes around." "You're right. I'm one of a kind." "You seem active." "Oh, yes, I am very active today, since, in fact, I just delivered a speech and spoke my mind clearly to the government. Yes, indeed, I tore their hearts apart." "Well, we need someone like that on Phantasy Star Online." "I agree." Drake stepped away giving Kyosuke some space. "Please, my new friend, others are waiting for you near the bank." "Thanks for telling me." "My pleasure." Drake stepped into the portal getting near the machine that could, inevitably, transport Drake to a planet that would soon change his life forever. He put his hand on the machine. He saw that the only area open was the forests of Ragol. His old friend, Bish, was correct. Drake pondered. "What could have possibly happened to him...?" He took his hand off of the machine and whispered to himself, "Tomorrow..."  
Drake stepped away from the portal as if he were refusing to seal his own fate in just the decisive minute. It was too much for him. Drake desperately wanted revenge, and with Gadwin on his side, he knew he could claim it. The enemies who took his life away, were going to pay... definitely.  
When he had arrived at the bank once again, he looked as the commotion had died down, and everyone was leaving. No one was going down to Ragol today. It was only a meeting. After everyone had left, Spiritchaser stepped up to Gadwin. "Gad, will you be online tomorrow?" "Probably." "Well, tomorrow, I am going to start recording." "I thought you were already recording." "No." "Dad****it!" "You didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?" "Yes!" "Well, tomorrow, I'm not going to wait any longer. I am going down to Ragol... by myself!" "You're crazy! You won't find anything down there!" "I will if I have support." "As in what..?" "Guns..." "Fine, whatever."  
Gadwin pulled out a few weapons out of his inventory; weapons of all kinds of sorts. Drake recieved them and put them in his inventory. When that was taken care of, Gadwin sent his farewells. "Well, I have to get offline for now." "That's fine with me. Just don't forget about tomorrow. You're putting my life in your hands." "I'm not an expert." "You're Level 85... you can't avoid it." "****, you can read!" "Yes, Gad, I can." Drake walked off laughing in the distance. Gadwin disappeared into the dust as he went offline. It was time for Spiritchaser to begin his quest. Yes, readers, it's time for the recording to begin. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 14: Recording and Reseeing the Truth _______________________________________________________________  
Finally, the NEW day had come. Drake knew that he wouldn't be able to survive the planet Ragol, with just Gadwin. Drake knew exactly how it as going to turn out. He went offline and arrived in the Hunter's Guild. He pressed "Record" on his mag, and the tape started rolling. Drake started, "Hello, and welcome to my show. Memories of Phantasy Star Online. On this tape, for any of you who watch it, you will see the good things of this game and the bad things of this game. The results may vary for every person who watches. All that I want to say is, that in this video, you will see how I carefully plot my revenge on the ones who decieved me. In this tape, I will team up with a man named Gadwin. He is hacker, who promises not to waste my time. If he can prove to me how Phantasy Star Online can add up to my arrogance, he will recieve a great award when this is done." Spirit looked through a window. Outside of the window was the large planet, Ragol. He knew nothing of Ragol, except for the fact that it had took everything away from him.  
Drake started again, "OK, let's get started. Just don't forget the deal me and Gadwin made. Certainly don't forget that." Drake ran up to the bank. He looked at the camera. "Hold on a few minutes. There is some business I must attend to." Drake looked in his bank file. He steadily pulled things out looking for a certain weapon. After several minutes of looking, he had found it. It was a frying pan. Yes, it may have sounded foolish, but frying pans were respectively some of the most effective weapons ever made. That's not all Spirit got out of the bank though. He got out a sword that resembled the ones from ancient ninja stories. It was called the Agito. A very thin sword that was made by a master of crafting. Drake knew this weapon would come in handy.  
After preparations at the bank, Spirit was finally ready for action. He ran to the portal that was previously a training room. The portal was ready. Spirit gathered some confidence and stepped into the portal. He put his hand on the machine. He thought to himself, 'Come on.... you can do it.... press the button....' No matter how hard he tried, Drake couldn't do it. After a few minutes of pacing by the machine, he finally came to his senses. "Well, how stupid could I be! I wanted to sacrifice my life for no apparent reason, but I won't press a single button that would transport me to a planet where I could gain my vengeance! How idiotic am I!? It's time to get into gear, and try this gizmo out! Forget the consequences that may come, and just do it!" Spirit paced back and forth some more, and then pressed the button that would take him down to Ragol. The guards by the portal watched and saluted Drake as he went in. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 15: The Spiritchaser On Ragol _______________________________________________________________  
Finally, as it seemed forever, Drake had arrived on the mysterious planet called... Ragol. Spiritchaser was equipped with the frying pan, and he was ready for anything. Spiritchaser was small, had purple clothes, and had slightly purple hair, which resembled Trunks' hair off of Dragon Ball Z. Drake was the Spiritchaser.  
He raised his frying pan into the air and looked at the ground below him. "So... I can breathe perfectly fine on this planet. There are trees everywhere." Drake ran past the first "room" passing through a small blue barrier. Inside, he saw a few creatures that resembled mutations of humans. He analyzed these as Boomas. "So... you must be a friendly little lifeform, am I right?" The Booma slowly walked towards Drake. "So... what are you like?" The Booma came closer... and closer... "Hey now, not too close and not too far away. I need this for a good pict..." Before Drake could finish his sentence, the Booma moved its arm back and attacked Drake with its claw. "Hey, what the crap?" The Booma striked at Drake again, but it seemed as if the Spiritchaser was too fast for this beast. Drake jumped back out of the barrier. The Booma backed away. "SO... you want to mess with me and block my path?" Drake put the frying pan in combat position. "Heh, this should be a DELIGHTFUL scene." In one quick jump, Drake passed back through the barrier and sliced the Booma down. In an instant, the Booma's cry of agony signaled for more Boomas to come on the scene.  
Drake used his keen senses to give the Boomas a good visitor's welcome onto Ragol. Spirit was taking control, and not letting go. He was going to take over Ragol, and destroy anything that tried to get in his way. And that meant anyone, as well.  
The Boomas quickly fell to the ground when Drake pulled out the frying pan again. The force of it hit them with undefying stability. The hunter, Drake looked at the new monsters that rose up with earnest. "Can't you see you're boring me?" There were wolves, also known as Savage Wolves. They didn't scare the Spiritchaser, though. One of the wolves jumped into the air aiming for Spirit, but it missed. Drake grabbed it by the tail, and threw it into another opposing wolf. They both ceased of moving.  
The last avenging Savage Wolf was left. He growled in agony seeing his fellow wolves fall. This majorly changed the battle. Drake walked up to it, quickly disposing of him. Well, figuratively speaking. The wolf got back up , and pounced on Drake. Drake was not hurt at all by this attack. The wolf tried to pounce again, but Drake hit him with the frying pan in mid-air. This did the trick.  
The first room was cleared, and there was no defense left. The wolves were tamed. The Boomas were crawling away for help, and the trees were weeping a horrible cry. Drake showed no mercy. "You... dark things of Ragol... you took my life away. I'm going to take your precious life away!" Drake moved on to the next room.  
It was a hallway that consisted of a long, straight pathway. It leaded to a barrier that needed a device to open it, and it took a different turn that led to another room. Drake ignored the barrier, for it only had a few item boxes in it. He instead took the path that led to the next room. It was a large room with a large collection of trees. A plant slowly floated onto the ground.  
Drake classified this beast as a Monest. After it had gotten onto the ground, it started spewing out insects. They flew into the air at fast speed, and started going towards Drake. He classified these creatures as Mothmants. They quickly bit him, just as a mosquito would do.  
Obviously, these mosquitoes did not have any cases of West Nile, for Drake didn't seem to be affected by them. Drake was confused. "How could these futile creatures possibly destroy my friends? They could take no effect on a defenseless creature, much less me with a frying pan." With that said, Drake pulled away his frying pan. "I think it's time to teach these nuisances a LESSON!" Drake then pulled out the Agito sword, which I spoke of earlier.  
The mothmants flew into the air quickly as if they had saw an anti- blood filled organism. This couldn't stop Drake's destructive envy here. He had some techniques he had learned earlier, and he planned on using them. Drake concentrated on the mothmants and quickly launched a huge ice attack, known as Rabarta on the mosquito-type insects. They froze up and deteriorated into dust. Drake moved on, once again without no mercy.  
After a few, short encounters with really, weak enemies, such as Rag Rappies, a new encounter, and a few of the same things, Drake found a teleporter. It led to the next section of forests on Ragol. Drake entered the portal. When he arrived, he was in a rainy forest that had a desolate, but delightful scenery. Drake was on his confident side, so this forest wasn't going to come out on a good side. There was about to be a forest fire. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 16: History Decided _______________________________________________________________  
"Who in life says there can't be an upset in a battle? Who says that looks can tell all? Who are you to speak the truth when all you do is fall?" These were some of the thoughts running through Drake's mind as he entered the second set of forests on Ragol. As soon as he entered, a team of Savage Wolves attacked him. As soon as they could jump into the air, Drake sliced them down. Not a chance. After that short encounter, the Rag Rappies which I spoke of earlier had returned. They had not been killed, so they ran away to get reinforcements. This time, I can describe these foul creatures. They were bright yellow with straight long "alien" ears. They resembled a bunny rabbit, and they sure did act like them. This was a very evil bunny rabbit, though, for it attacked people. Drake wondered why such a small animal would attack any little thing. He had to find out.  
After a few medium-sized rooms compared to the others, Drake came across a huge room packed with dozens of creatures. They all attacked him. As you could probably guess, Drake sliced them all down with ease, without breaking a single dry amount of sweat. In a matter of seconds, the entire room was cleared and the next room's door was open.  
Inside was a portal that obviously led to another place above it. A gigantic bear-type "thing" was guarding it. There were also red barrier lines surrounding it as well. "HOLY CRAP! THAT'S ONE HUGE PIECE OF CRAP!!" Drake screamed out. The Hildebear, as he called it, jumped up into the air slamming his fists right into Spirit.  
It seemed as a hopeless situation as the bear continued to pummel Drake in the head. Drake looked in his inventory quickly, and found an item called "HP Material." Drake gladdened with joy as he used it on himself. The Hildebear continued to pummel. More and more, Spirit's energy was increasing giving the Hildebear more and more pummels necessary. Soon enough, Drake had three hundred and sixty-eight health points, about two hundred more than he had earlier. That was Spirit's first actual power up. In a split second, the Hildebear shot a fireball at Spirit. The fireball was easily knocked back to the Hildebear, killing it in one shot. Drake used the Resta healing technique on himself, and continued on through the portal.  
Boomas and Rag Rappies appeared. This time it seemed as if Drake had found an evolved form of the Boomas. These he called Goboomas and Gigoboomas. They were sliced and diced as well as the other foul creatures. Goboomas had slightly deformed heads while Gigoboomas' skin was quite dark. When they were destroyed, Drake continued on once again.  
Finally, Drake had found the final room. Inside was a giant portal. He did not know where it led to, so he approached it cautiously. As he stepped up to it, a Hildebear jumped to the ground out of nowhere stomping Spirit. Spirit enraged and sliced the Hildebear down.  
Drake stood in battle stance as the blood of the Hildebear quickly washed away in the rain. Spirit looked up to the sky and said, "I'm ready." He went in the portal where all heck was about to break loose.  
Drake arrived in the area that the portal led to. Standing a few feet away from him was a big dragon. Spirit shouted out, "MOMA!!!" Now Drake was getting some doubts about his little quest. Nonetheless, Drake stepped up and started slicing away at the dragon's foot. The dragon staggered to the ground quickly. "Hmm.... maybe I can do this after all," Drake thought to himself. About that time, the dragon got back up and started flapping its wings. It went up into the air and threw its body upside-down. The dragon pummeled into the ground digging tunnels. A big hole was coming towards Drake. The Spiritchaser jumped out of the way to avoid the hit, but the tunneling hole was just too big to avoid. After a few consecuctive hits, the dragon was staggering for air. He was running out of breath, or in this case, fire. He came out of the ground letting out a loud roar. Drake did a stealth technique to silently get onto the dragon's back. Drake jumped into the air slicing the Agito sword right into the dragon's head. This did the trick.  
The dragon fell down to the ground slowly as Drake jumped off of him. For the first time in history, the dragon of Ragol had been defeated... but was it really the last encounter with it? Drake noticed that on Ragol, the animals could reproduce themselves making more and more creatures. This could mean the dragon could come back. Before Drake could find out, he headed towards the portal to Pioneer 2. Spiritchaser had just marked history. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 17: Flashback in the Caves of Ragol _______________________________________________________________  
Well, Drake had arrived on Pioneer 2 with hope. He had defeated the one thing that was blocking everyone from getting to what they wanted to know. As expected, Drake arrived in the principal's office with news. The principal started the conversation.  
"What did you find?" "A huge dragon!" "A dragon..! The dragon... did it attack you!? Maybe it was defending its territory....Continue investigating!" Drake turned away and whispered to himself, "Great..."  
Drake approached the Ragol teleporter looking at the location description. A new area was open. The caves of Ragol were now open to the hunters of Pioneer 2.  
Spiritchaser went into the portal and arrived in the caves. He immediately saw a shark-like figure in the caves. He called this the Evil Shark. As you can guess, the Evil Shark attacked Spirit. Spirit resisted by attacking back. The shark fell to the ground.  
The monsters in this area weren't a challenge to Spiritchaser either, for he was just having a blast taking all of the evil lives he could. He occasionly encountered things he called Poison Lilies, which spewed out poisons towards their enemies. He found Nano Dragons, who shot out big purple blasts at their enemies, which really did some damage to Drake. Otherwise, that was the only threat to Drake.  
About the time Drake had encountered fifteen minutes of cave exploring, he was getting pretty tired. "Lonely..." Drake moaned as he went through another hallway of the caves. There was nothing in the following room, except a barrier blocking an HP restoration device. Spiritchaser disabled the laser fences and restored his health. The next door in the room had two buttons laying beside it.  
Drake approached the first button and stepped on it. A light turned off on the door. He stepped over to the other button and pressed it. The door unlocked and Drake went inside of the new room. Inside was a portal.  
The portal did not lead to the second set of caves, but instead, it took him to a different section of the first caves. The room had a Nano Dragon in it with a couple of Poison Lilies. Drake destroyed all of these weak creatures with his newly found Sword, which he had obtained in an early section of the caves. Now he could do close range combat and target more than one enemy.  
In the next room, Drake encountered a Grass Assassin. It looked like a huge roach, but it was very strong for its appearance. It may have been strong, but it could not hit the Spiritchaser. Drake stood around for about five minutes blocking the Grass Assassin's attacks, until finally, Spirit finished the enemy off. Behind him stood a portal to the second set of caves.  
Drake went into the teleporter and put on an amazed face. The second set of caves were beautiful. Waterfalls were everywhere, and it just looked like an icy paradise. Though the backgrounds were beautiful, the enemies were ugly. Poufiully Slimes were everywhere, which were new enemies that Spiritchaser classified. They attacked with their bodies, and retreated by oozing across the floors. The slimes were easy to defeat for Drake, though, as much everything else was. This entire scene was quite boring for the Spiritchaser, for he had no challenges in front of him and no new findings. He did, however, find messages all over Ragol, but he did not know who they were from. His biggest guess was that the messages may have been from a commander from Pioneer 1. His biggest guess just happened to be Chad, his old friend. But then again, that was just his imagination.  
After dozens of enemies had been vanquished, Drake came across a room filled with rainbows. Drake looked in amazement and went into a daze. A flashback came to him. In his mind, he saw himself watching Akane and Chad being pummeled by Evil Sharks. Chad was killed, but Akane was there to revive him with the Reverser technique. After that, Akane disappeared while Chad was then pummeled by the Evil Sharks once again, being killed. About that time, Spiritchaser woke up finding himself being attacked by the Evil Sharks. He disposed of them quickly, took a large breath, and moved on.  
After a long excavation of the caves, Spiritchaser had found a third set of caves. When he arrived in them, he thought to himself of the dangers that he may come across jumping into a vision to find out some prophecy that only existed in his brain. Either way, he knew that he had to avenge his friends and fulfill his duties as the Spiritchaser.  
Drake found some Pan Arms in the caves. They were two medium-sized creatures stuck together in a complexing format. After a while, they would split up and attack as a team. When they were stuck together, they would be highly defensive, but when they were split, they would be highly offensive and keep attacking continuously. Drake waited until they split, so he could take them down without having to go through a major defensive creature.  
Eventually, Drake came across a boss portal. Some devastating creature was in the portal that followed, and Drake did not want to find out what was in the portal. He knew that the creatures he had fought before were pretty easy, but he was expecting a bit of a further challenge in this new set of exploration. Drake made a telepipe, which if I haven't explained what they are yet, they are a teleportation device that will be set at Pioneer 2. Drake planned on using Gadwin's strategy by waiting for someone to revive him if he was destroyed by the creature that lied ahead.  
After high preparations, Drake entered the boss portal. When he arrived on the scene, he was on a raft. There was a huge worm swimming by the raft. It roared and started attacking the raft. Drake dodged the attacks swiftly, and took advantage of the open defense the creature was using.  
Spiritchaser called this creature the De Rol Le, as in the worm ray. The De Rol Le shot out a combo of purple blasts out of its shells that were on its body. They all approached Drake in fast motion, but only a few of them hit our young hero. He survived as you can guess, and quickly healed himself with Resta. The De Rol Le crashed onto the boat after that releasing tiny spikes out of its body. They all landed on the raft.  
Drake sliced and diced his way to the end of the spikes, but then realized the situation at hand. The De Rol Le was trying to tip over the raft, while Drake was on the other side. This would cause Drake to flip over and land on the De Rol Le, where the huge creature would shock Spirit to death. Drake knew this, and he did not want this to happen. He continued attack on the De Rol Le as soon as possible, and knocked off a shell on his body. Soon enough, the De Rol Le was so damaged trying to tip over the raft, its head shell flew off exposing its entire body. After a few more slices by Drake, the De Rol Le roared in agony, tipping its self over, crashing into the water that surrounded it. Drake had won the battle, and leveled up again. The raft slowly stopped and a teleporter appeared. The tide stopped and Drake went into the teleporter. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 18: Sealed Away _______________________________________________________________  
Once again, Drake arrived on Ragol with more news. The principal was delighted to hear that the De Rol Le had been destroyed. Drake, however, wasn't so happy because he knew the trouble that the reincarnated monsters could do. The scientists soon agreed with the principal though, which was a mistake they would soon know about. One scientist spoke to Drake.  
"Was that really the last of those monsters? If it was, then we all know that they were destroyed by the mighty hunter, Spiritchaser!" "Oh, no, my good friend, you don't seem to understand. Those creatures are going to come back. It's in their DNA code to reform with more strength. The more I explore, the more harmful those monsters are going to get!" "Oh, you'll learn one day, good sir, for I am wise and I know that you have done a good cause. The De Rol Le is gone, but I am quite sure that there could be more of those creatures out there! Probably thousands!" "That I can agree on... but until I come back, you just hang tight." "Yes, good sir, I will wait, and I will wait patiently." "Thanks..."  
Drake exited the principal's room heading towards the Ragol teleporter. Before he could enter though, he saw a small probe fly over his head. "What the crap was that!?" Drake cried out. "What was that thing?? It looked like R2D2!" The probe had disappeared. Drake moved on as if nothing happened. A new area was open: the mines of Ragol.  
When he arrived, Drake encountered new enemies of course. This place was full of robots! The main enemies were called Gilchics, who had two primary attacks. They could punch really, really hard, and they shot a powerful laser out of their arms. Drake recognized this creature somewhere, but he couldn't remember where. There were also robots he called Canadines. They hovered above the ground, and shot out electricity. Drake took these creatures out with Rabarta, the ice technique. It did good enough to dispose of the Canadines. There were also Sinow Beats, which were very big ninja-type robots. They had blades on their arms, which attacked in rapid motion. They may have been fast, but once again I must say, Drake was so determined, he was able to outrun these creatures, and definitely match their speed. He sliced them down in a small amount of time.  
Drake finally arrived in the second set of mines, where he found an evolved form of Gilchics, which he called Dubchics. The only way they could be destroyed was to take out the mechanism that was controlling them. After a long fight, Drake finally figured that plan out. Another puzzle had been solved.  
Finally, a Golden Sinow Beat appeared. It could heal itself just like Spiritchaser. Drake knew that this creature would be superiorly strong so he launched a photon blast at it.  
If I haven't mentioned this important fact before, mags are buddies that follow around hunters. They can power up hunters or make them really accurate or really defensive. They can also improve one's intelligence. When one has attacked a long amount of enemies, the mag can power up and launch a huge blast at the enemy. Don't forget this, for it comes as an important part of our story.  
Anyway, the mag's photon blast hit the Golden Sinow Beat, but it did not damage it. Drake was surprised by this. Even though that attack had been countered, the Spiritchaser knew that there had to be a way to beat this creature, so he used physical force on it. In a physical fight, Drake pulled himself out the winner, and continued on.  
The last enemy I should speak of would be the Garanz. A huge robot that shot missiles out of its head part. Even in a supreme combo of missiles by the Garanz, Drake could survive and heal himself. Then he would take the Garanz down.  
Now that we have finally gotten through all of the small enemies, let's get down to the final encounter in the mines of Ragol. Drake came across a monument in these mines near the boss portal. It had a couple of symbols on it, but since Drake was in such a hurry, he passed right by it without examining it.  
After a while, he did get to the boss of the mines. He made a telepipe, and went inside of the portal. Well, you guessed it. This boss was a humongous robot.  
It was actually a kind of computer that was controlling a robot. Drake attacked the sides of this big "computer" when its power source turned red. The Agito sword did the trick most of the time, but the computer was just too fast for Drake. Though none of Drake's attacks seemed to hit the robot, he managed to time his move just right and hit the computer. He called this creature the Vol Opt.  
After a long session of sword fighting versus electrical attacks, the computer began to explode. In fact, the entire arena began to explode. When the dust cleared, the interior of the Vol Opt had been revealed. It started out by shooting dozens of missiles at Spiritchaser, just as the Garanz had done. And just like its predecessor, it was no match for Drake's enormous defense. He survived every stomping attack, every missile fire, and every electrical piece of nonsense that the Vol Opt seemed to carry in its arsenal of weaponry. Drake slammed the Agito straight into the main source of the Vol Opt's computerized brain, making it explode into bits of dust. A teleporter appeared and the battle was over, but the war was just about to begin.  
Drake went inside of the teleporter, but to his surprise, it did not lead to Pioneer 2. Instead, it led to a set of ruins. There were a set of messages inside. There was also a huge door with symbols on it. Drake read the messages and was shocked to hear what they said.  
The messages claimed that the door that stood in front of him was sealed by a curse. There were three monuments that locked the door. Drake remembered one of the monuments that he had found in the mines. "Monuments... I saw one of those earlier! I just don't feel like going all the way back just to activate them though... Well, it's time to pass this test." As Drake stared at the door, he seemed to be creating a technique of his own. Spiritchaser was making his own ability just by focusing on the door. As his mind continued on the door, Drake shouted, "I summon the power of spirit and time. PASS ME THROUGH THIS DOOR!! SHOJEN HA!!!!" Suddenly, Drake's spirit actually passed through the door. After that, his body started kicking its way through the door. Eventually, Drake's entire self was through the door and a hallway had appeared in the distance. A dark and gloomy hallway. Drake entered and found a teleporter. Forget the principal's office. Drake was going straight into a war by himself. He was entering the ruins of Ragol. This is it. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 19: The Ruins of Ragol: Desolation _______________________________________________________________  
The teleportation device had finally stopped. Drake was in the lost ruins of Ragol. There was a portal behind him that led back to Pioneer 2. He didn't want to go back, for he feared that the principal's daughter was probably lost. He knew that no one survived on Pioneer 1. He knew nearly everything now, or at least that's what he thought. Actually, Drake knew absolutely nothing compared to the information he was going to soon recieve.  
Let's start off with the basic enemies of the ruins. First, there are creatures called Dimenians. Drake assumed they were an evolution of the Evil Sharks. They had strong attack and a lot of health. There were Claws, which basically attacked with their heads, which were claws. There were Delsabers, which had huge blades. Drake assumed they were evolutions of the Sinow Beats. They could jump up and strike just like the predecessors. There were Dark Belras which had a ton of defense. There were Chaos Sorcerors, who shot out dozens of techniques to their enemies. All of these creatures.. Spiritchaser could survive all of them.  
Drake did come across a huge window in the first set of ruins. Outside of it lied a huge civilization. It looked like an entire empire. From Drake's point of view, it looked like the Central Dome of the forests of Ragol, but there seemed to be a message by him that claimed that it was the other set of ruins on Ragol.  
Drake continued on until he came across a huge room that had a waterfall in it. The waterfall ran down into a large pit where Drake could not see the ends of. Drake took out all of the enemies in the room, and then walked over to the pit.  
"Gosh... this looks like the remains of some huge blast... its destruction exceeds the power of a real Shojen Ha blast. Whoa..." Drake groaned thinking that maybe in his amnesia that he destroyed this place himself. He did not want to think of any harm he had caused. He continued on into the next set of ruins.  
In this place, he found creatures called the Dark Gunners. They looked like spiders, except they were covered by an invisible shield that made them invincible to attacks. After a while, they would release the shields making them vulnerable to attack. Drake could kill them by attacking the weak points. He could also use techniques to damage them.  
After a while, Drake came across an enormous room. Drake looked on as he stood in the hallway that led to the room.  
"This place... it looks familiar. What could have possibly happened to this place..?" Drake walked forward. A shadow appeared. "HOLY CRAP..! WHAT IS THAT???" A huge centaur appeared. It had a huge chainsaw-looking arm that shot out huge blasts. It charged up, and then literally charged at Drake.  
Spiritchaser moved out of the way so the attack wouldn't hit him. As he turned around, the creature charged at him again, confusing Drake. It was as if Drake was having amnesia once again. In a few seconds, Drake snapped out of the confusion. Then he sliced down the centaur, killing it. He called this creature the Chaos Bringer.  
After a few smart enemies, Drake found the teleporter to the third set of ruins. He went in. When he arrived in the third set of ruins, he noticed that the hallways had spider webs and moving parts all over the walls. It was if Spiritchaser was inside of something's body. It looked paranormal.  
As Drake quickly annihilated all of the enemies that crossed his path, he finally came across a long hallway. "This is it! This door!" The door was guarded by two locks. The two buttons that would open the locks were inside of the room somewhere. Drake found the first one by searching behind some weapon boxes that he found in the room. The second button was in a corner of the room. The door opened revealing the long hallway. Drake ran through the hallway, which led to another monument. A message was beside it.  
"It's too late," read the message. "We've already opened the door. Do it. Do it now! Destroy this dark 'thing' that has terrorized the civilizations before us!" With that read, Drake knew who the messages were from. They were from Red Ring Rico. He knew that Rico had been destroyed and defeated by this monster that was inside the ruins. Drake went into the next room with little confidence. Only three Dark Belras were inside. He disposed of them quickly wondering why little defense was carried on in that room. He did not find out that day. He moved on to the next hallway which had the portal to the final boss in it. It was time for the final battle... or so he thought. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 20: Revealing of a Monster _______________________________________________________________  
Drake made a telepipe blindly and went through the portal. He arrived expecting to find some huge monster above him. He was wrong. He arrived in a peaceful place with butterflies and seagulls flying around. There was no harm here. He searched the place looking for any signs of danger, but he found nothing except a huge monument that resembled the others he had heard about before. It was slightly bigger though, and it had dozens of symbols on it.  
"This can't be what I think this is... This place is peaceful. The message spoke of a monster. They spoke of a monster that was filled with destruction!! Why am I wrong!? Everything comes down to this, but there's nothing here!"  
A small whisper filled the air. It was as if Drake had heard a ghost. What he thought he had heard was these words: "Come a little closer to the light." Drake was frightened by this. Who or what had called him? He didn't really have a choice. He was trapped in this place until he found a teleporter. His only choice was to walk up to the monument, and that's exactly what he did.  
The monument started flashing. The sky darkened. The animals disappeared and spikes rose up from the ground. Drake fell back in shock. The spikes started approaching him. Voices were screaming and yelling at him. Spirits flew through the air in pain and melancholy. The spikes were getting even closer.  
Drake decided that this was not the time to lose confidence and this was not the time to panic. Through all he had went through, he knew that this was his big chance to post justice. With all of his might, they young man, Drake, sliced his way through the ever-so dangerous spikes. They fell back into the ground that they had came from as if they were retreating. The battle seemed to be ending, but instead, it was only beginning.  
After all of the spikes had been destroyed, as the messages claimed, a huge monster appeared.  
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Drake fell back again. The monster was gigantic. It had horns on its head. It had two faces and it moved around on three dragon heads. These dragon heads spewed out more dangerous spikes.  
Drake got back up slicing the spikes away, but the monster kept spitting more out. The middle head on the monster controlled his arms. The arms took out fire and ice techniques. They hit Spiritchaser with definite force. One of the ice attacks froze Spiritchaser!  
Spirit could not move, for he was frozen. The spikes were surrounding his cold body, and the fire techniques were not heating him up, but they were chilling him even further. It seemed as if the end was near for Drake. His health was going down rapidly, and there was nothing he could do about it. About that time, Drake got free of the everlasting ice, and healed himself as quickly as he could. Our hero took down the spikes, and dodged the fire attacks. He broke free of the ice attacks and started attacking the monster with a vengeance.  
Soon, the monster roared with agony. The battle was still not over though, for the monster was still producing. He grew rainbow wings and stuck to the ground he was standing on. The arena was now the monster's playground. Drake had not yet analyzed this creature, so it was hard for him to battle the monster.  
The creature tried everything it could until it was fresh out of ideas. It started charging up an attack. Drake kept attacking without regret. The monster couldn't handle the pain. The attack stopped charging and the monster fell to the ground. Drake barely moved out of the way. The monster had faded away. Drake could hear a silent laugh in the distance. Something told him that this creature was not dead. The arena had died down. The spirits were silent.  
Drake looked to the sky. "I failed. He took reform." He then looked back down to the ground. "I have to track him down. I must team up with Gadwin, or all will be lost." He then went into the teleporter to find Gadwin online. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 21: Recording Online _______________________________________________________________  
It happened that night. Spiritchaser got back online searching for Gadwin, but he wasn't on. Well, not yet at least. Drake was recording himself online for the first time, and he just wanted to have a little fun.  
A guy named Cirus was in the lobby at the time. Drake walked over to him, just as a random person, and asked him to do something a bit hilarious. Not knowing the situation, Cirus just said, "Hi." Even though this wasn't a joke, Spiritchaser laughed. He asked for more of Cirus' time. Cirus just stood there staring at the wall, until he finally asked, "Do you have gameshark?"  
Drake stood there silent as Cirus ran around the room waiting for an answer. Drake did not answer. Cirus ran off and Drake was beside himself.  
A little later after that, a few more people came in. About half of them were stupified. Most of the people sat around in the lobby just screaming out random things. It was insane!  
There was a man calling himself Crud in the lobby though. Even though his name would soon idiotic, this guy was actually intelligent. He acted as if he were waiting for someone. A girl entered the lobby.  
"Hello. I'm new at this 'game'. Can someone help me? I need a mentor!" Drake stood there confused at the girl who had just asked for his advice. Well, it seemed as if she were asking for his advice directly for he was the only one near her in the lobby at that time. Drake was motionless. "Well, I could be a little bit of help," Drake started. The girl, who was codenamed Queen Isabel, replied, "What level are you?" "I am Level 20." "How long have you been playing?" "Ever since the very beginning." "And you're only level 20?" "WELL, you see I've made dozens of new personas. I was once known as a man named Shane, but I changed my persona. You could do it too." "Wow, so you're an expert?" "Oh, yes! That brings up a great idea!" Drake turned over to the recording probe. "This... is an example of a new person to Phantasy Star Online!" The girl stared at Drake cautiously. Now it seemed as if Drake was catching this 'insane' fever in the lobby.  
The girl turned away, but Drake stopped her. "You. Let me have a copy of your guild card." "What's a guild card?" "It's a... a...um.. it's like a friends list!" "A friend's list? Alright. Could you explain what it looks like..?" "There! In your pocket!" Drake took a card out of her pocket showing it to her. The girl replied, "OK, here you go!" The girl handed Drake the card. About that time, everyone in the lobby stopped moving.  
Drake walked around as he saw another girl named Undying Edge walk into the room. "What the crap!?" Drake shuddered. A force emanated from Undying that shocked the entire lobby. Everyone froze except Drake. He walked around trying to wake everyone up, but they just wouldn't move. Not even Undying was moving. Soon after that, Drake had disconnected from the server. It was Game Over for Drake. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 22: Gadwin's Arrival _______________________________________________________________  
A few minutes later, Drake got back online. Undying Edge was still in the lobby. Drake started out. "What was that? How did you do that? I don't disconnect from the server that easily!" "What are you talking about?" Undying replied. Drake came back with a reply, "That blast! When you entered the lobby, I disconnected immediately!" "Not my fault." "Yes, it IS your fault! Explain now!" "I have some of the most devastating VK codes. It would be just plain stupid of you to keep talking like that when I'm around." "Oh yeah, alright! If you can't apologize, at least give me some information if you're so hacked up and know every single thing about this game!" "I've seen everything this morning. That person who opened up the new areas on Ragol." "That was me." "You're kidding. A person like you couldn't possibly have done all of that by yourself. Get out of here and don't come back again." "OK then, if you want to be like that, I will go. It seems to me that a friend of mine has just arrived." "A friend of yours? Who might that be?" "A man named Gadwin." "Gadwin.. what level is he..?" "Level 85." "So.. you have some backup." "What are you talking about?" "I trust you now. Now I do know that you were the one to open those places." "Dang straight." "I'm going to give you some advice." "What advice would that be..?" "You need an invincible mag for the task you're about to complete. I've seen this monster before that you have opened to the public." "So what do I need to do to get this mag?"  
A man in the back laughed at the situation. Drake turned around to see a dark figure between the two teleporters in the lobby. He turned back around to the conversation. "So you were saying..?" Undying didn't reply.  
Drake turned around to get in the teleporter that would lead him to Gadwin and spoke, "I guess I will have to ask Gadwin for some scape dolls." "Hold on there," Undying replied. "I have an invincible mag that you could use, but it might take a few minutes to get it." "I don't have a few minutes. My friend is on a tight schedule." "So be it then." "I'll see you around." Drake walked off going into the teleporter to find Gadwin.  
Drake arrived on the scene just as Gadwin had finished preparing his great arrival. "Yo!" Drake started. Gadwin replied, "Gah, you must be bored. I just got on." "And I just searched for you on your guild card!" "Lol. So what brings you here?" "You didn't forget your promise to me did you?" "Oh yeah, that promise." "So do you remember it?" "Yeah, we have about three more hours to fulfill that promise." "Exactly." "So how are we going to do this?" "We're going into the ruins." "The ruins!?" "Yes." "But haven't you heard what's happened?" "What?" "The monsters inside have gotten stronger than your report claimed!" "My report!?" "Yes!" "What report!? I didn't report anything to the principal, therefore, no one should even know I went in there!" "Sounds like you've got a problem on your hands." "Indeed, I do."  
Gadwin had a baffled face on. He turned around to Drake and asked for five minutes. Gadwin was going to turn his codes on. In the meantime, Drake was going to go back to Oberon, where his conversation with Undying Edge went.  
When Drake arrived, Undying was still there. She was talking about her clan to the dark figure that we saw earlier. It seemed as if either the clans were about to go into a war, as they usually did, or one of the clans were going to get a new leader. The dark figure called himself God of his clan and he called himself that name over Phantasy Star Online. This man was one of the most famous hackers that ever lived on the game.  
After the dark figure turned away and left, Drake stepped up to Undying. She started, "So you've come back?" "Yes, my friend is putting his codes on." "It looks like you have insurance." "So do you have any tips for my excavation?" "The monster inside of the ruins is not the same as it was before. He is going to launch a few attacks at you that can obliterate your Level 20 ***." "A strong force right?" "A Dark Force, to be exact." "Dark?" "Yes, the military classified this monster as Dark Force." "And why did they name it that?" "You'll see." "Oh, yeah, I see perfectly. I open up all of this and no one is even going to tell me what rests before my eyes." "That's because you need to gain common sense." "So be it. Tell me more about the attacks." "You need to get an armor slot. Put in Light/Resist because he is going to shoot a technique called Grants at you." "Grants.." "A big ball of light exploding and causing major damage." "I'll ask Gadwin for an armor slot." "Good luck." "I already have luck on my side." "We'll see about that." "There's nothing to see." Drake turned around to see an android named Bender running around screaming out random things. Drake smiled.  
Drake walked away going back to the ninth block of Oberon where Gadwin was waiting. Gadwin started out, "So... are you ready?" "Oh, yes, definitely, I am ready." "Let's go then." _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 23: The Duo of Disaster _______________________________________________________________  
Gadwin made a team while Spiritchaser waited for the game to load. Drake joined Gadwin's team by typing in his password. Gadwin's password was "gg". When Drake entered, Gadwin was in shock. "You always know my password!" "Lol." Drake ran over to the bank area to get his scape dolls out of the bank. If Drake were to die, the scape dolls would bring him back to life instantly.  
Well, anyway, Drake looked into his bank account. Inside, there were four scape dolls, half of the amount he thought he had. This was a problem. Drake knew that this new "beast" that was in the ruins was sure to kill him instantly, figuratively by the way Undying was talking about it. Could a Level 20 actually take on a huge monster? It didn't seem so. Gadwin was the benefactor of this though, and that's what made the battle even.  
Gadwin, using his gameshark codes, walked straight through some walls. Drake looked on in astonishment. "Where are you, Gad?" "HELP!" "What? You're standing right there." "HELP!!" "Er..." "Nevermind, I'm out." "What happened there?" "I got lost." "Lol!" "Hey, it wasn't funny, I could've got ran over by a car out there." Drake laughed and went back into the bank. Gadwin jumped over the counter, which was strictly forbidden by the bank staff. Gadwin's gameshark thought different, though. Gadwin jumped back.  
"OH MY FREAKIN GOSH!!! WHAT IS THAT!!!?" "What?" Drake replied. "DON'T YOU SEE IT??" "See what??" "THE RED DUDE! WHAT THE **** IS THAT THING??" Drake walked over to a man dressed in red. "Do you mean this guy..?" Drake questioned. Gadwin replied in earnest, "NO!" "Well, then, I don't know what you're talking about." "ARE YOU BLIND!? HE'S RIGHT THERE!" "There's nothing there.." Gadwin jumped back over the counter. "THAT DUDE WAS FREAKY!" Drake laughed again going back into his bank account.  
Drake then took out a mag from the bank and equipped it. Drake's technique power quickly rose up. Drake headed towards the medical center to get his energy refilled. Gadwin started talking again. "Here's some stuff for you to survive the ruins." "Hold on, I'll be right there." Drake ran over to the bank area picking up the weapons that were on the ground. There were very high powered guns scattered across the floor. One of them was the Spread Needle, one of the most powerful and diversified guns out there. Another was the Holy Ray, which was slightly weaker than the Spread Needle, but was very accurate. Drake turned around to see Gadwin at the principal's teleporter. "Come over here, Drake." "Alright." Drake ran over to the portal laughing at what hilarious new thing Gadwin was about to do.  
Drake went into the teleporter as Gadwin stood still. Spiritchaser ran over to the principal's desk, as Gadwin 'teleported' over to the principal's location. Gadwin shouted out, "Look, it's Sonic!" "Sonic?" "Yeah, he's right here where I'm standing!" "That's one famous hedgehog. A hero of all. There's just one problem. I can't see him!" "Man, your game is ****ed up!" "OK." Drake walked away once again laughing.  
Drake ran over to the Ragol teleporter. "OK, Gadwin, I'm ready to go to the ruins." "OK, let's go. Follow me." Drake followed Gadwin into the Medical Room. Gadwin then started walking through the walls to the Ragol teleporter. "What are you waiting for, Drake? Come on!" Drake laughed and then went back to the teleporter. They both went in.  
When they arrived, the ruins were as desolate as ever. Drake went into the first room first, while Gadwin equipped all of his inventory. A Delsaber appeared jumping into the air. Drake dodged the attack, and equipped a weapon called the Delsaber's Buster. Drake sliced the Delsaber down with its own weapon. A horde of Dimenians appeared attacking Drake. Gadwin came in to heal Drake, while our young star, Spiritchaser, took down the Dimenians. The room was cleared.  
Gadwin started out, "SO, why are you recording?" "A good show." They both laughed and moved on. The next room had a Dark Belra with four claws in it. Drake easily sliced down the monsters and cleared the room. Gadwin jumped back. "Gah, you do a lot of damage for Level 20." "Yeah, lol."  
A door was blocking their way to the next room. Online, two or four people would have to stand on the buttons both at the same time. This ensued more depth to dungeon-searching. Gadwin and Drake opened the door and continued on.  
"So, Drake, have you been making friends?" "Sort of." Drake then thought about the people he had saw on Oberon. Drake and Gadwin continued on to the next room, where six Claws waited for their arrival. Drake sliced them all down in a matter of time, while Gadwin guarded him. Six Dimenians appeared with vengeance from their brethren. Drake sliced them all down while Gadwin continuouslly healed him using Resta. When all of the enemies were taken down, they went to the next room. A trap fell from the ceiling falling on top of Gadwin. Drake destroyed it with the Delsaber's Buster. "Thanks," Gadwin stated. "No problem," Drake replied. The next hallway was a short one.  
This hallway led to the room with the gigantic hole in it that poured down a waterfall. Drake looked down at the hole and said, "I feel like I've done this before..." It seemed as if Drake had had a case of amnesia. Gadwin was behind, for he was opening up weapon boxes in the previous room. That left Drake alone to fight another Delsaber. However, this one was pretty smart. It leaped up into the air slamming its blade right into Drake. Drake got back up from the impact, while the Delsaber circled Drake continuouslly. The Delsaber did not attack, for it was waiting for the right time to hit Drake. Drake took the bait and tried to hit the fast and agile Delsaber. The attack missed, and the Delsaber hit Drake. Drake got back up with a counter and took down the Delsaber with the Buster. A white light surrounded Drake and healed him.  
"What the..? Who healed me... and where are you Gad?" Gadwin seemed to be traveling in the walls. "Right here," Gadwin replied. Gadwin appeared right in front of Drake and attacked the Dimenians with his Spread Needle. Drake helped the frontal attack with the Delsaber's Buster. Then, a Chaos Sorceror appeared. Drake went in for the kill, but the sorceror teleported away. Gadwin laughed at Drake's futile attempts to attack the sorceror. Soon, his laughing stopped as the sorceror attacked Gadwin with a fiery attack. Drake sneaked up behind the sorceror and hit the kill. Drake then leveled up to Level 21. Progress was going fast, and this duo was taking out everything that came at them. Could anything stop them? _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 24: Unveiling of a Monster _______________________________________________________________  
Drake and Gadwin continued on the lonesome path of the ruins of Ragol. The room after the waterfall was unguarded. There were no monsters and no dangers, except for a poison germ on the floor that was spewing out all kinds of chemicals. Drake destroyed this bacterial organism and moved on.  
Then, Drake found an upgrade on the ground called Elf/Arm. He looked over to Gadwin. "Gad, do you have a spare Spread Needle or Holy Ray with you right now?" "I left you some at Pioneer 2." "Dang." "They're still up there... I think." "I'll get them later. About the time we get to the next set of ruins."  
They moved on to another monster-filled room, with the same enemy sets and everything. Drake launched a photon blast at the enemies, while Gadwin finished them off with the Spread Needle. The next room after that was a very small room. There was a button surrounded by a large pit. On the other side of the pit was another button. Drake took out the enemies in this room while Gadwin was staggering to keep up with him. Drake continued on, but Gadwin wasn't really happy with the quick departure.  
"Hey, Drake, come back." "Why?" "Just do." Drake turned around after killing a Chaos Sorceror to see what Gadwin's comotion was all about.  
"Okay, Drake, get on this button." "Why? We can't get over there." "Watch and learn." Gadwin started running at the pit and soon, he was on the other side. A trap popped up from out of the ground paralyzing Gadwin. However, Gadwin was equipped with armor that would sustain him from having any adverse effects on himself. Gadwin ran off to who-knows-where, while Drake continued on his course.  
Drake ran into another room that was filled with buttons. There were four, so that meant it would be impossible to unlock the door that they were guarding unless Drake were to use his Shojen Ha technique to get through it. This room connected to another hallway that would lead to where Gadwin was located. Drake went into the hall, but numerous amount of Dimenians appeared. It was an ambush! They all surrounded Spirit immediately. Drake tried to fight out of it, but it was no use. It seemed that all was lost, until gunfire was coming straight at the Dimenians.  
It was Gadwin. The Spread Needle shot down the Dimenians easily. Drake healed himself and walked over to a barrier lock. He pressed the button, which unlocked a barrier in the previous room. Out of nowhere, a trap popped up when he pressed the button. It exploded taking a devastating amount of health out of Drake. Drake was frightened by the blast, so he moved over, but this made another trap appear. Gadwin got in front of it to protect Drake. The trap exploded hitting Gadwin. They were safe now. Gadwin healed Drake and himself and continued the path that they were going.  
Gadwin was now leading the way. He came into a room with some Bulclaws, which were combinations of Claws. They took down all of the Dimenians and Bulclaws in the room. After that, another hallway opened. It led to a dead end with item boxes. The duo would have to retrack their steps.  
Drake ran back to the room with four buttons inside. The barrier which I spoke of earlier was now gone, and an unlocked door was on the other side. Drake went in and was ambushed by two Delsabers. Claws appeared to back them up, and a battle started.  
Drake took down one of the Delsabers with his Buster and proceeded to take down the next one. He launched a photon blast at all of the enemies in the room. About that time, Gadwin came in the room to save the day. He launched his Spread Needle bullets straight at the monsters trying to stop him. More and more creatures appeared, but they were all brought down by Gadwin. The door unlocked, and the room was cleared. After they went down the next hallway, a door opened unveiling the second set of ruins teleporter.  
The duo went inside. When Drake arrived in the second set of ruins, he made a telepipe to go back to Pioneer 2. He was going to get the weapons that he had left behind. Before he went in, Gadwin spoke. "So you're going to get the weapons?" "Yeah, I'll be right back." "Let's split up then. I'll take a path through the walls while you take the normal route." "Alright." "I think we'll get to the boss faster by doing this." "Good luck then." Drake saluted Gadwin and went into the telepipe.  
As expected, the Spread Needle and Holy Ray were in place. Drake picked them up and went back through the telepipe. When he arrived back in the ruins, he equipped the Elf/Arm and the Holy Ray. He could not yet equip the Spread Needle, for his accuracy points were too low. Drake walked into the next room to see that Gadwin was long gone.  
Drake pulled out the Holy Ray and yelled out with happiness. "Finally! A gun that I can use!" Drake moved on shooting the Claws down with the Holy Ray. Now nothing stood a chance against him.  
Let's take our view back to Gadwin, who was going straight through walls to get to the third set of ruins. This travel proved that anyone could explore the ruins in just one day. This is why so many people did.  
Now back to Drake, who had cleared out all of the monsters he possibly could. He came across a two-button door. He couldn't open it without Gadwin, and he didn't have enough energy to do the Shojen Ha.  
"Gadwin, I think you sort of forgot something." "What?" "Me." "What's wrong?" "There's no way for me to get through this door." "I'll make a telepipe then." As he said, Gadwin made a telepipe. Drake went back to Pioneer 2. Then he went in the pipe.  
Gadwin noticed Drake's arrival. "So what took you so long getting here?" "You told me the telepipe was green in your description." "Lol, exactly." Gadwin went through a wall back to his traveling, while Drake entered the next room. They were now in the third set of ruins.  
A Chaos Bringer appeared. Drake jumped back in terror yelling for help. Drake turned around and shot a hole straight through the Chaos Bringer. Then Drake continued on, saying, "Nevermind." Gadwin replied, "I was coming." "Yeah, I saw you." "Lol, I was kidding." "Then, who or what was that who just went through that doorway on the other side of the room?" "What are you talking about?" Drake looked at a doorway on the other side of the room. The door then put itself in locked formation.  
"There's someone else in here!" Gadwin quickly replied, "Now I think YOU are kidding." "No, I'm not! That door just opened, closed, and locked itself! Do you take me for a fool!? I'm not blind!" "And you're hallucinating. I heard you earlier on in the ruins. You were talking to a waterfall." "Lol, that was nothing." "Nothing...? Well, we'll see about that."  
Drake and Gadwin had completely forgotten the situation at hand. Was there really another being in the ruins besides them running around? Gadwin didn't think so, but Drake just knew he saw something. There wasn't really any way they could find out now. If there was anything, it was long gone.  
Gadwin kept walking on through walls until he finally reached a long hallway. It was the hallway to the boss. Gadwin walked through the doorway blocking the final room, launched a telepipe, and hid in a huge pillar in the middle of the room.  
  
"OK, Drake, the pipe is ready." "Alright, here I come." Drake went into the pipe Gadwin made, noticing that he was nowhere to be found. Then he looked on the area map. Gadwin's green arrow was on the map in the middle of the pillar.  
A barrage of enemies appeared. One of them, which was a Chaos Bringer, charged toward the pillar in the room. It then charged straight through a wall! Gadwin was then attacked by the Chaos Bringer. The rifle on the Bringer's hand was steadily punching Gadwin.  
"****! He went through the wall! Lmao!!" "Lol!" The Chaos Bringer steadily kept doing its attacks, until Gadwin stepped out of the pillar.  
Drake shot down the Bringer, and whirled around, dodging another. "What the..!? Didn't I just kill that thing!?" "Lol, yeah. It's a different one, stupid." "Lol." Eventually, the monsters were all destroyed, and the boss door was open.  
It was time to unveil the monster. Drake was going to fight this thing no matter what got in his way. Drake was Level 23 now, and he was ready for a fight.  
"Do you have any difluids?" Gadwin asked. Drake then replied, "No." "Well, I'll just go with what I have." "Let's go." Drake made a telepipe, and then went into the boss portal.  
They arrived in the peaceful place. Drake looked around and saw that the place had changed back to its normal state. Drake turned to Gadwin. "Don't kill him immediately, because I know you can. I have to analyze him and then record his attacks." "OH MY FREAKIN' GOSH, IT'S A FREAKIN' BUTTERFLY!" Drake continued, "So don't hit him unless I can't defeat him." "KILL ITTTTT!!!!" "Oh, I know you want to kill it, but please, reconsider- --" "DIE DIE DIE STUPID BUTTERFLIES!!" Gadwin got out his Spread Needle and steadily shot bullets everywhere, but the peaceful aroma of this silent place kept the butterflies alive from any harm.  
Gadwin ran over to a large stone to get away from the butterflies. "Hey, Drake, what is this?" "I... don't know." Gadwin stood on top of the stone. Then, he disappeared. Drake turned around looking for Gadwin. He was nowhere to be found. Drake turned around again.  
Gadwin then appeared back on the area map. "Are you ready?" Before Drake could speak, Gadwin ran up to the monument and everything turned black. The spirits rose up into the air. The spikes came up from the ground. It was time for Round 1 against the evil beast. Drake analyzed this monster as Dark Falz. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 25: A Hero's Farewell _______________________________________________________________  
Drake and Gadwin survived the first few forms of Dark Falz fine. Gadwin was off somewhere in the arena running around, while Drake did all of the work. The third form came up with his rainbow wings. The beast was slightly stronger than he was before. This time, he had a few new attack formations. After a few gun shots by Drake's Holy Ray, the beast fell over. The battle was over.  
Drake jumped up with joy. It was over, finally, but there was one thing he was forgetting. The red ring did not drop out of the beast. As fast as possible, a blue figure jumped out of the dead body of Dark Falz. The battle was about to get bad. A new arena appeared in the sky. Falz raised Gadwin and Drake up to the stadium and the battle started.  
"Oh gosh..." Drake whispered to himself. This new form of Dark Falz was alive and well. He was a blue beast, as I said, with no feet, and a long cape on his back. The air inside of the stadium let him float into it, as if he were swimming in water.  
Gadwin hid somewhere in the walls of the stadium, while Drake started the attack. So far, the monster used a swipe attack. Drake could survive this long enough to heal himself. The monster also used a defense technique that temporarily made him invincible. Other than that, this thing looked fairly harmless considering the damage Drake was doing to it. Drake continued his attacks, until finally, Spread Needle Shots came flying out of nowhere. The monster cried out, disappeared and released the spirit of someone out of his deceased body. Now the battle was over, but was the war over? Gadwin appeared once again.  
"WHAT WAS THAT???" Drake yelled out. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO SHOOT!!" Gadwin replied, "What? I only shot him four times." "Lol!" "Lmao." "Can we reawaken him?" "Yeah, it's simple. We just go back into the telepipe, and he's back. Presto." "I don't think he's going to be back, Gadwin..." "Yeah, trust me."  
Well, the duo went back to Pioneer 2 after Drake leveled up to Level 24. They went back through the telepipe. Then they went into the boss portal. They arrived back at the peaceful place.  
"See? Let's go," Gadwin started. The duo ran up to the monument, but nothing happened. Gadwin paused. Then he blurted out, "See, I told you he wouldn't be here!" "Lol!!!" The duo went back to Pioneer 2 through a portal.  
"I've got an idea," Drake started. "I'll make a team, but you've got to walk through all of the walls again. Deal?" "OK, let's try this one more time.." "This time, let's get it right."  
As he said Drake made a team and Gadwin joined. When Gadwin arrived, he disappeared immediately. "Where are you, Gad?" "In the walls. I'm watching you." "Where in the walls?" "Come and find me." "I can't find you because I don't use codes!" "I'm everywhere." "Then I've found you! You're everywhere basically!" "No no no, Drake, you don't understand. By everywhere, I mean that I'm everywhere that you can't get to." "Then why didn't you specify that!?" As soon as that was said, Gadwin's health bar went down on the health meters. He just blew his cover.  
"Lmao, you're in the ruins!" Gadwin paused for a moment and then laughed out loud. Well, Gadwin was in the ruins. But what was Drake going to do with his free time? He was stuck at Pioneer 2, with absolutely nothing to do.  
Minutes passed, and Drake was in boredom. Then, Gadwin spoke. "So... let's talk about these new 'friends' you've been making." "Yeah, I lost all of my friends long ago... but I think it's mostly my fault they left. I mean.. what I'm saying is that I didn't really get that enthusiasted enough to get online and talk to them that much. I really just did the damage myself." "Well, I kind of feel the same way... about half of my guild cards are people that don't get on any more. I'm the only one out of all of them that gets on these days." "It's the same way here." "So.... my name is Bob Hope." "LOL!" "Lol."  
Time passed... and passed... until finally, Drake just started throwing money, known as meseta in this story, all over the ground. It was as if he was going insane, to tell the truth. Boredom can really do that to someone like Drake. Heh, I'm just the narrator, though, so what am I saying really?  
Well, eventually, Gadwin got to the end of Ruins 3. He made a telepipe, and Drake went in. Drake got out his Holy Ray, shooting all of the monsters, until suddenly, Gadwin got behind him. "Hide me, I'm scared," Gadwin whispered to Drake. Drake laughed and shot on. The room finally cleared, and all was left was the inevitable rematch with Dark Falz.  
They went into the boss portal, where fate was about to strike one of these warriors down. The duo arrived in the peaceful domain. Gadwin casted techniques named Shifta and Deband on Drake. These uped attack and defense. Drake didn't stop to prepare, though. He ran straight up to the monument. He was going to regret that.  
The battle started. Drake dodged all of the spikes that tried to surround him, while Gadwin shot out a photon blast that would eliminate them. This photon blast was similar to a dolphin. It hit the spikes in a row. Dark Falz, himself, appeared in his second form of the battle. The mighty beast pinned Drake in a corner of the room. Gadwin was cornered too, but he managed to escape using his codes. Drake had enough room to shoot out his Holy Ray at the beast though, so this form ended quick enough.  
Falz grew his rainbow wings. Drake and Gadwin ran up to his body and started shooting continous bullets at Falz. Gadwin healed, while Drake attacked. Eventually, the beast fell to the ground. It was time for the final form.  
It started out by immediately swiping at Gadwin. It did this two times. It went for a third, which would kill Gadwin, but our good hero moved out of the way. He healed himself and went into a circle in the middle of the arena. Drake was going one-on-one with Dark Falz. All by himself, at Level 24.  
Drake kept shooting, until the "inevitable" happened. Dark Falz swooped up into the air and came crashing down, crushing Gadwin. Dead.  
Drake fell back in fright. "GADWIN!!!" "That ****in' cheapy!" "You can still talk?" "Yeah, you can talk while you're dead, if you know what to do." "That's good to know, because now, I don't have a second chance in this battle. Cheer me on!" "OK, but you do know, you can just revive me with Reverser! I tought you the technique myself!" "OK, here goes." Drake stepped up to the balcony, going for Reverser. It couldn't reach.  
"OH dear," Gadwin remarked. "You're going to have to position it just right!" "I can do this... just hold on.." The two had completely forgotten about the alive and well enemy in the middle of the arena, who was swooping up to attack again. This time, he was aiming for Drake. About six pair of fireballs came out of Dark Falz, all heading for Drake.  
"OH CRAP!!!" Drake yelled and started running for his life. About twelve fireballs flew past him in slow motion, an epic sight that you would just have to see for yourself. Then, Falz shot out the attack that Undying Edge had spoken of. Grants. It hit Drake, but it did not kill him. It didn't seem right. How could Drake have possibly survived the attack that Undying said that he would not survive?  
Now that Falz had tried his most efforts, he only had one technique left that he could use. A red line of magic came out of Falz's hand targeting Drake. "What is this supposed to do??" Gadwin quickly replied, "Don't hit him! If you hit him, the attack will hit you as well!" Falz swiped at Drake so fast, it alerted the young man. Out came a photon blast. "NO!" Gadwin yelled out. "HE'S GOT YOU! IT'S OVER! THE PHOTON BLAST WILL COME BACK AND HIT HIM!! NO!!!" As he said, the photon blast did hit Drake, killing him. It was over.  
But as if he were an angel rising from the depths of his grave, he came back to life. The Scape Doll had saved him. Now Drake was back in the game. He got his Holy Ray back out and shot with fury. "DIE YOU FIEND!!!" In an instant, the Holy Ray blasted Dark Falz. The spirit shot out of him again, and the battle was finally over. Yes, that's right. Drake had made an upset.  
Drake still had a task in front of him though. He still had to revive Gadwin. Little did they both know though, something was going on deep under the arena. On the graveyard below, a lifeless Dark Falz was sucking out the energy of Gadwin. He was going to make sure Gadwin died and stayed dead! It seemed to be a technique that would make Gadwin stay offline after he logged off forever. There was nothing they could do. Gadwin's energy had ran out. Dark Falz had killed Gadwin, permanently. Game Over.  
Back to the scene, though, Drake was still trying to revive Gadwin. It seemed as if Reverser could reach him, but it just wouldn't work! After a while, Gadwin just gave up and teleported his body to Pioneer 2, where it would be healed. This wouldn't help him, though. Dark Falz had been vanquished. But this also meant that he had evolved into a different being. He was now known as IDOLA!  
After that, Gadwin went offline, never to be seen again. Drake's new friend, Spike, was in the lobby waiting for the duo's return. Only Drake came out. They had no idea that their friend had just been permanently filtered.  
Now what was going to be left when Drake finally realized that his newest friend was gone? How, exactly, was he going to react, when Gadwin didn't show up online? It seemed that this monster knew exactly what Drake's weaknesses were, and he was going to use them effectively! _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 26: Over the Months _______________________________________________________________  
After that, Drake met up with Spike, who was waiting on Oberon 9-1. They went into a game, and Drake told his new friend about everything that had just happened. The only thing missing was the simple fact that Gadwin was lost forever, but no one could ever figure out that.  
The two friends went into the ruins for a while, but it didn't really last that long. After that, Drake went offline. Days passed without Gadwin getting online, and Drake didn't know what the matter was.  
Now that that's out of the way, let's get back to the scene before Gadwin even got online. In this scene, we will revisit Crud, who was doing good as it was. He had a new friend, or so I was told, who called herself Moonlight. Drake was just passing by one day, when he noticed a team with Crud and Moonlight inside. Since he recognized the name, he went in.  
Crud didn't really remember Drake all that well, because the lobby scene was just a quick confrontation. The three, Crud, Drake, and Moonlight, went into the ruins on a late Saturday night. After a few bits of exploring, a man named Kagatsu entered their team. Drake then became friends with everyone in the team. He obtained all of their guild cards.  
They went outside back to the lobbies when the game just suddenly disconnected. Drake went back online, thinking it was just a server problem, when it happened again. Drake came back once again, engaging into a conversation with Moonlight.  
"What's going on? I just reset two times!" Drake started. Moonlight quickly replied, "WHAT!? You too? It happened to me as well!" "There's something wrong going on here." As soon as that was said, Crud entered the room once again.  
"Someone is lag bombing this lobby," he started. Drake jumped back. "You're kidding right? Why would anyone bomb the European ships anyway? None of us have any enemies, or at least that's what I think!" "There's only two people who could possibly be doing this." "And who would that be?" "There's a guy named Kyosuke that we know running around the lobby. There's also that Kagatsu guy we just met." "I wouldn't put any bets on him. That guy was pretty nice." "Well, feelings can change fast, Drake, and we need to get in some sort of shelter before this hacker strikes again." "We should be safe on Pioneer 2." "Let's go then." Crud and Moonlight followed Drake onto Pioneer 2. A person walked past them on their way in a white dress. It seemed to be a girl, but nothing was certain.  
Drake, Crud, and Moonlight stood in the Hunter's Guild making a decision on who they thought the hacker was. Crud voted first. "I think it's got to be someone just stalking the lobby." Drake quickly took a reply. "I'm putting my bets on Kyosuke..." "No, he's our friend! Not a suicide!" "Do you want me to prove it?? I can certainly do that!" "No, you stay here! I'm going straight out there. I'm tired of running from some idiotic hacker who's bent on destruction!" Drake looked on in amazement. It seemed as if he had a plan though. Drake followed Crud out disobeying his orders and looked on.  
Drake searched for Kyosuke's guild card, and noticed that he wasn't online. The lag bombs didn't seem to be happening any more either. Crud was in concern. "But... why would he attack us?" "I couldn't know why. But as I swore revenge on the monster who destroyed my friends, I swear revenge on this hacker as well." "You're not serious about anything, are you?" "Just watch. This guy will be down in no time!" Drake went offline to research Kyosuke, and the night basically ended.  
Spiritchaser did not get online for another month. It seemed as if the real spirit of Phantasy Star Online was dying. When all seemed hopeless, Drake got back online eventually. To his surprise, Kagatsu was online, in a secret identity. He was known as Kaiser. Drake joined a game with him and they talked.  
Kaiser began asking Drake a few questions about the guild cards he had. Drake showed a few old cards he had when he knew Chad. There were many codenames named after Sephiroth, and Kaiser recognized all of them. Drake looked upon Kaiser as he searched through all of the guild cards. Drake then pointed to a card. "That one is Kyosuke's card." "Kyosuke? That guy has done some bad things!" "How do you know?" "Um.. since you were gone for a while, I guess I should inform you of the things that have occured lately." "OK, what's happened?" "Well, nothing really, except for a constant flow of reported hackers." "Hackers don't really give up, do they?" "Well, yeah, there are good hackers around." "Good hackers?" "Let me introduce my real identity." "Heh, so you're more than a normal person, right?" "I'm a member of the International Freedom Hackers." "The Internation Freedom what?" "Hackers." "And you're a good hacker?" "Yes." "Well, if it seems that you know all, tell me the last time a man named Gadwin came online." "It was at nighttime one summer night... I think he was with some Level 25 person." "Crap... that was when he was with me." "Sorry." "What about a guy named Spike?" "He got on about two weeks ago." "So he still plays..." "Well, anyway, I want you to join us." "Me, a hacker? Sorry, I don't hack." "You don't necessarily have to hack to be in our group." "OK then, I'll join." Kaiser walked over to him giving him a piece of paper. On it was a huge number that represented Drake's agent number. "So, Drake, did you even know about us?" "Not exactly." "Well, everyone supposes that the IFH just died." "Let me guess. You didn't." "Exactly."  
About that time, a girl named Iris Irine entered the game. The three started talking and completely acted as if nothing even happened in the conversation. Kaiser logged off, and a man named Zapper entered the game. It was obviously one of Kagatsu's friends. Drake had no idea who he really was though.  
The three went into the forest, where Drake would unexpectedly meet an old friend. Irine walked over to Drake. "I have a friend coming in the game. Since you're the leader of the team now, do you mind if he comes in?" "I don't mind." Zapper left the game, and someone else came in.  
A RAmar appeared in the portal that came from the lobbies. With short white hair and black equipment, he emerged. It was the colors of a certain animal, but can you guess who it was? It was none other than Skunk. His new persona was Skunk II. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 27: A Silent Mystery _______________________________________________________________  
Skunk II arrived in the forest looking for Irine and Drake. Drake looked at him as if he had seen a ghost. "Skunk II.... Skunk II....... it's as if I've heard that name before somewhere...." "Hm?" "Oh, it's nothing. I'm just having a flashback." "Flashback? Right." "So you came in with Irine?" "Sure did." "Well, here's my guild card. I have to get offline right now." "OK."  
Drake and Skunk II exchanged guild cards. Drake said his farewells, but just as he went offline he said to them, "Don't be surprised if I cease to live after what I'm about to do." Skunk II looked at Spiritchaser with a cold stare. Then Drake left.  
Drake went offline to record one final excavation. He arrived in the ruins, ready to take on Dark Falz. He entered the boss portal in the third ruins. The peaceful place was back, and in normal condition. Drake looked towards the monument.  
"If Gadwin couldn't take on this monster, then how am I going to take him on when he's powered up? I know there's no way for me to find out what really happened to Gadwin, but I have a deep feeling that this was no ordinary disappearance! I've seen the increased strength of the monsters on Ragol, and I know this monster is stronger as well! If I can't do this, there's no one who can do it. There is only one thing to do, and that is to go in here, destroy this monster, and get my revenge!" Drake pulled out his Spread Needle that was given to him by Gadwin. "Bring it on, you fiend!" Drake ran up to the monument and quickly shot down all of the spikes in one blast.  
Dark Falz appeared immediately striking Spiritchaser. Drake countered with a huge blast from the Spread Needle that pierced straight through everything that got in its way. Falz was going down fast.  
Drake had awakened the second form. He shot down Rafoie and Rabarta to try and stop Spirit, but it did not work. Drake quickly made this form fall to the ground. It was time for the final form, already. The blue beast appeared immediately jumping into the air. It shot down the combo of fireballs that I spoke of before. This time, though, it hit. Drake was shot down, and he didn't get back up. Drake was dead offline. There was no one to save him, and Falz was getting in position to absorb him. Drake had to think of something. His body was dead, but his mental abilities still existed.  
Falz rose up his long hand ready to absorb the young man. The spell started, but as it did this, something else was brewing. A small figure jumped from the sky onto the arena. Drake saw it pass by, but he couldn't turn over to see who it was. The sound of a telepipe beaming started. Drake was carried off into the telepipe to the medical center. The figure disappeared, giving the medical servers some information.  
When Drake finally awakened, the nurse walked up to him. He was totally confused. How could anyone get to him offline? It just didn't seem right. The Spiritchaser went over to interrogate the principal when the nurse stopped him. She started out, "Before you go, I've got to say that a man saved you earlier!" "I'm aware of that, but I don't have any idea who it was." "It... it was a man named Bingo!" "Bingo??" "Yes!" "I don't know anyone who is named that!" "Well, let me check all of the information that we have in the records." "That would be really helpful to me." "OK." The nurse walked over to a machine. She pressed a few complicating buttons and it showed the record of Drake's hospital service. 'Drake McCl0ud, Agent Spiritchaser, Age Unknown, Gender Male, Brought in by a man named Bingo, found in the first set of forests.' Drake looked on at the situation. For once he totally remembered what happened. He knew that he died in Falz's arena, but the records didn't say that.  
Drake walked out saluting the nurse. He was pretty depressed because he didn't set up a telepipe before. Well, it seemed as if Drake had a guardian angel though. There was a telepipe set on Pioneer 2. It was obviously from this "Bingo" person. Drake grabbed something out of the bank and went into the telepipe ready for anything. He arrived in the ruins, near the boss portal. Drake went inside of the portal and arrived back at the peaceful domain. He picked up his dropped meseta and Spread Needle. Then, he activated the boss.  
Drake did well, just as he had done last time, until he finally got to the final form. Before Drake could even prepare, Falz lifted up into the air shooting out the blue fireballs. Once again, Drake was pummeled by the fireballs. They had killed him once again. Thankfully, though, the item that Drake had gotten out of the bank was none other than a Scape Doll. It brought him back to life sooner than possible. Falz went up into the air to try this devastating attack once again, but it failed. Every fireball flew past Drake in slow motion, missing. Grants was casted, but Drake survived.  
Spiritchaser continously shot the Spread Needle in Falz's direction until the battle finally ended. Another piece of the spirit flew out of Falz. Drake looked on at the silent battlefield. The evil laugh filled the air once again. Drake looked on again. "That was for Gadwin."  
  
Weeks passed without Drake getting online. Everyone thought he really died, but that wasn't the case. Dark Falz's power had been matched, but how was Drake going to deliver the final blow? _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 28: Blackballa, a Symbol of Power and Justice _______________________________________________________________  
After about another month of no one seeing Drake, he finally got back online. A helping hand like Kagatsu wasn't around to give him any updates of what had happened, so Drake had to find out on his own. It just so happened that Skunk II was back online, but his persona had changed to Skunk. Drake and Skunk met back up in a game. Inside the game, there was Blackballa, who Spiritchaser couldn't remember. Blackballa couldn't remember him as well, as it seemed. They greeted each other as if they hadn't met before. Then, they started playing.  
Skunk soon had to go offline, so Drake and Blackballa explored Ragol. "So, Black, I have a question for you." "What's that?" "Have you seen a guy online named Spike?" "Nah, I dun know anyone with that name." "Okay, no problem then." Drake went to his cards and searched for Spike. His name popped up. "Oh my gosh! He's on!" "Luck!" "I'm going to ask him to come in here." "OK." Drake mailed Spike with a private message. Then Spike came in.  
Drake and Black were in the ruins when Spike arrived. Spike ran around them several times in a confused and bored manner. Then, Black challenged Spike to a PK battle. PK battles are just like fights except that's just what game users liked to call it. Spike went offline to turn his codes on for PK, which stood for Player Kill, and Balla prepared as well.  
Drake was still in the ruins waiting patiently until a man named Viking stepped into the game. For once, Drake had a ghost-like face. This Viking person set a streak of terror straight through Drake. Spirit was not Level 88, and it was true that nothing could probably stop him, but this Viking guy was just sending him through terror. Viking entered the ruins where Drake was, but to his surprise, Black entered as well. Testing his strength, Black launched a huge kick straight into Viking killing him. "So, dun you ever come in here and scare people, ya hear?" Viking was motionless on the ground, but he was able to speak. He calmly spoke, "My lord will come." Black jumped back, looking towards the portal to Pioneer 2. A man calling himself Lord soon entered the game, then going to the ruins. Lord was angry. Drake was still on his knees. "Black, combine the names together!" "What do ya mean? It spells out Viking Lord." "I know! Viking Lord was someone I knew back in the Rune Scape age! He despised me and now he's come back for me!" "I dun understand what you're so scurd about. It's just some hacker that I could defeat." "NO! This guy went beyond evil. He could turn the tides of good will and set them straight into your face. If this is who I think it is, we could be in some bad trouble here." "Dun worry, I got it covered." Lord walked over to Black in slow pace.  
"So," Lord started out, "You want to hurt my friends?" "Heh, I see he came to you and cried, didn't he?" "Don't be foolish. You want to mess with me? My people could easily take you down." Fortunately, this guy wasn't as serious as he seemed to be. Black replied with great determination, "Well, if ya want to stop meh, do somethin' about it." With that, he kicked another straight kick, but this time it headed towards Lord. Lord was knocked down dead fast as the eye could see. Black walked over to Drake. "See, I told you he would go down, didn't I?" "It's not over! He's getting back up!" "What? You seein' things?" "NO, I MEAN HE'S LEAVING TO TURN HIS CODES ON!!" "So, he thinks he can mess around with us? I'll show his sorry ***!" Drake got back to his feet and ran over to the waterfall area in the ruins. Viking had already left in cowardice, while Lord was making more false threats that he couldn't handle.  
Black was eager enough to reply to this guy. Despite everything Lord said, Black was as intelligent as could be. Lord finally gave up his futile arguments and turned back to the portal to the lobbies. "Fine, then, if you don't want to stop, I'll just mess around with the public. If that ceases to make you happy, come and do something." Black was happy enough to follow Lord into the lobbies.  
Drake followed forgetting completely about Spike's awaiting arrival. Black went into the lobby after a while overhearing the people in the lobby. Everyone was complaining that some 'Lord' guy was walking around stealing items with his buddy, Viking. Black knew exactly what to do.  
"Spirt," said Black, "I've got some business to do, I'll holla at ya when I'm done." Drake walked over to a corner of the lobby waiting patiently for Black's return. After about thirty minutes, Black returned, and Lord was nowhere to be found. A member of the Phantasy Gods clan, Zos, was standing on another corner of the lobby staring at Black. "Did you get the job done, Black?" Zos asked. Black silenty replied, "Of couse." Drake looked on at Black's power and justice. Drake turned away and whispered to himself, "This guy is perfect for the job!" He walked off as Black followed him into the cold night. _______________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 29: Final Battle with IDOLA _______________________________________________________________  
They were heading to a Japanese server when Skunk had finally arrived back on the scene. A team was open on this server. Inside was a Japanese man named ZG who learned a little bit of English over the years. Spirit went inside seeing that this guy was a high enough level for the job. Blackballa followed behind. Skunk came in after that.  
Spiritchaser started, "OK, you guys, I'm going to do something that I haven't done in a long time." "What's that?" Black replied. Drake was happy enough to answer, "I'm going to record my progress, just as I did in the old days." "What are we going to record?" "We're going to fight Dark Falz." "You mean that foul beast that was reported a few months ago?" "Certainly." "OK, sounds fun. Let's go!" Drake headed over to the bank to get out a few things. Then he turned on the probe. Drake looked over to Black. "I'm going to use my Spread Needle, so we can get there faster." "That's cheap, Spirit." Skunk totally agreed with Black. ZG thought the same thing as well. Drake was confused. "OK, I'm only going to use it on the boss, OK?" "That's still cheap, Spirit." "OK, I'll only use it when necessary." "That's more like it." Skunk stepped out of the Hunter's Guild. "It's Spirit's movie, right? Let him do what he wants to." Spirit agreed, even though it was a bit of rude for him to say such a thing. Spirit kept his promise though. He didn't equip the Spread Needle in the first set of ruins.  
Spiritchaser, Skunk, Blackballa, and ZG were cleaning house in the ruins. The waterfall room wasn't too far ahead, so they went through there first. After the room was cleared after an epic battle, Black stood still staring at the ground. Drake continued on, without noticing the situation. Black looked down and with fury in his eyes he said, "Blood.... angers.... me...." His eyes turned blood-red. It looked as if he was going insane. Skunk fell back with his mouth wide open in shock. "What's happening to him, Spirit??" "I don't know!" Black got back to his feet and looked normal. "OK, guys, I'm fine. Let's go." Drake and Skunk were besides themself, but as normal people would do, they continued on following Black and ZG. After the next room was cleared, Spirit stopped the recording probe.  
"Um... guys... I have a really big favor to ask of you." Black stared on. "What might that be, Spirt?" "In this last scene with Dark Falz, I'm going to record us being killed in the end..." "WHAT???" "It sounds crazy, I know, but... I have a feeling that this monster is one huge situation. We could sacrifice ourselves to take him down!" Skunk widened his mouth again. "But I've got a life ahead of me! I don't want to DIE!!" Spirit looked to the ceiling. "Well, if you want to live, you're going to have to give this your best shot!" "OK.... I'll try....." Spirit turned back on the tape and continued on through the ruins. Many epic battles occured in the ruins that day. When they got to Ruins 2, the tide was starting to pick up.  
Black was Level 100. Skunk was Level 95. ZG was Level 73, and Spirit was Level 88. Action was going on more than usual. Spirit looked on at a balcony in the ruins. "One time," he started, "Me and Spike were in this same room. He was somewhere else in here, and I was getting pummeled by monsters. Out of nowhere, he came and shot them all down in a furious attack. It was amazing." Black stood still. "You dun? That brings up a good idea. Let's split up into two groups." "OK, I'll go with ZG."  
Spirit and ZG reached the huge room in Ruins 2, while Skunk and Black were straying off into some other part of the ruins. Skunk and Black were about to split up, when a huge pack of monsters surrounded Black and killed him. Skunk was there to revive him, though, so they continued on after disposing the monsters. ZG and Spirit were doing well, until they finally reached the third set of ruins.  
In the next ruins, everyone joined up again. Spirit killed a few Dimenians leveling up to Level 89. Everyone congratulated him and then continued on. After a while, they reached the long hallway. A few monsters tried to stop them, but ZG and Spirit launched a Photon Blast combo on the beasts. After traversing the long hallway, they were in the final room. Spirit went past all of the monsters going into the next room, as the trio in the other room, disposed of all of the monsters. Skunk was the first to step into the room Spirit was in. "Let's kick ***!" Skunk shouted. Spirit was ready to do the same thing. Black and ZG came in together. Black told ZG to get in the teleporter and they went off.  
Spirit had it all together now. He had himself, who would take the final blow on Falz. He had Skunk, who had great healing techniques. He had Blackballa, who had strong heart and great power. He had ZG, who was an eager fighter, who always tried his best. There was nothing that could stop this team. That's what Spirit thought. But could it be done?  
They arrived in the peaceful place, where the only thing that was evil was the dark entity that lied beneath the monument in the center of the room. Drake ran over to the monument, but didn't start the battle. Before he went, he said, "Make this epic." Black, Skunk, and ZG stood still for a moment. Then they went on. Black started with his phrases, "Heh, let's kill dis foo. Represent when you battle! Once you're black, you can neva turn back." Then he let out a strange phrase. "Remember the battle in Oberon?" A memory flashed by Drake and then the battle started.  
Immediately, the spikes rose. Black was engulfed in flames by the spikes. Drake was shocked to see that Black, their strongest man, was the first to fall. Skunk revived him and the battle continued. After a long course of melee attacks, the spikes were took down. "Represent when you battle!"  
The first form arose, and quickly took action. This new form was quickly destroyed, and took down. The four heroes were taking down Dark Falz, and fast, but hadn't we seen this before? It seemed as if Dark Falz could revive himself repeatedly. It took some time for him to recover, but when he did, it was time for total chaos to break loose again. In this battle, Drake wanted to stop this carnage with one huge sacrifice.  
The first form was took down, but the second one arose with the rainbow wings. It moved around so fast, that no one could even get to it. "****it!" Black shouted in anger as Falz moved around the arena with such great speed. Black pulled out his Double Saber and attacked Falz's body. A full head-on attack was sent on Falz's body. It was hurting him very badly. Soon, the beast fell to the ground, releasing the final form.  
Spirit looked to the sky above him. "Dont... forget me...." The attack on Idola started, in recognizable fashion. Black turned to Falz in anger. "I'll generate the Photon Blast!" With that said, Black let out a Photon Blast just as he said, and damaged Falz greatly. It did not get the job done that quickly though.  
Spirit got out the Lavis Cannon, a sword that could shoot out scythes, and attacked Falz with full force. Then, he launched a photon blast that raised his strength and defense. Falz went up into the air launching the combo of fireballs at Skunk. They all hit, killing him, but thankfully, he had teammates. Blackballa revived Skunk after time, and they continued the attack. Then, Falz started targeting ZG. The fireball combo hit ZG, but he seemed to dodge the rest of the attack letting him survive. Spirit looked at his body. A green force field was surrounding him. He had an invincible force shield surrounding him!  
Dark Falz saw that now he might have a chance to take down the Spiritchaser, so he swiped at him with full power. It did no damage. Spirit looked on laughing at Falz with pride. "YOU CAN'T KILL ME!! COME ON FALZ! HIT ME!" Black stared on. "EAT ME! EAT ME INSTEAD!!" Black looked on. It seemed as if Spirit was about to launch his attack. Falz went up into the air first, however, and launched the fireball combo at Drake.  
Drake ran for safety, but surprisingly, every fireball missed. No damage was done. This made Drake feel as confident as ever. He knew now that he could win the battle! Drake got his Lavis Cannon ready for Falz. Idola came back down with force, and launched another swipe towards Spiritchaser. It didn't hit him that time either. Drake prepared his Lavis for the final blow when Falz went up into the air yet again. He launched the fireball attack laughing histerically. In such a split second, Drake screamed out, "STOP LAUGHING!" It was too late though. The invincibility had worn off and Drake had been hit with full capacity. He was dead. But Skunk was there to revive him. Drake rose back up confused on what had went wrong. Nonetheless, Drake reequipped his Lavis Cannon, continuing the attack. Falz went up to launch the fireball attack again, targeting Spirit. Spirit ran for his life, but instead, the attack hit Blackballa. As he fell to the ground he whispered,"It was close, everybody." Drake laughed and revived him as the battle continued.  
Falz was running out of ideas fast. He turned over to ZG launching the fireball combo at him. The attack missed once again. Falz exploded with anger launching an attack at Blackballa. It was the Soul Steal. If anyone hit Falz, Black would get hit too. Everyone was aware of this, so they didn't attack. Falz was getting desperate.  
After the spell ceased, Falz continued the swiping at ZG. Little to his knowledge, Falz didn't expect a photon blast from ZG. It hit Falz with power, but it still wasn't enough to get the final blow. Falz had his game plan set now. Without Spirit knowing, he casted the Soul Steal on ZG.  
Drake had his Lavis ready to strike. With echoing power, he let out a shot from the Lavis Cannon, then equipped the Spread Needle, shooting a huge blast at Falz. What a mistake. The blow quickly destroyed ZG, killing him. Falz casted an invisible ray of light at ZG's dead body. It was the Absorb technique! ZG was going to be absorbed if the trio couldn't get to him fast enough! It was hopeless though. Falz had done it. He had absorbed ZG's energy. Now ZG would disappear just as Gadwin did. The trio revived ZG and in a final blast, everyone hit Falz at once. The monster cried out, releasing a bit of spirit energy, then faded away. The battle was over.  
Everyone was cheering for joy, but little did they know, Falz was still out there in the depths waiting for another attack. Drake turned to the center of the stage. "I've done it. I've avenged him. This weapon, the Spread Needle. This weapon was his, and this weapon was the same weapon that destroyed you, Dark Falz." Black looked on thinking he was talking about Red Ring Rico. "Yes, Rico, we've avenged you. Rest in peace, Rico." Drake looked over to Black. "OK, Black, now kill us." "What? Kill you?" "That's right. Kill us." Skunk took out a bazooka. "OK, YOU GUYS! I'M READY FOR ANYTHING!!" Black started laughing histerically, mumbling, "YES, YES, I'LL GLADLY KILL YOU!! HAHAHA!!" Skunk and ZG had left the arena. Spirit walked over to the teleporter. "Heh, I was just kidding, Black, let's celebrate!" "YES YES, I'LL KILL YOU, BUT FIRST LET'S GO TO THE OFFICE!!" "Don't party that much, Black." "Remember the battle in Oberon?" Spiritchaser paused. "Yes, Black. I do..." _______________________________________________________________ EPISODE 1 FINALE: THE BIRTH OF FALTZ CHAPTER 30: Evil Begins _______________________________________________________________  
Drake went back to Pioneer 2 while Black followed. Since ZG had done his duties, he went offline never to be seen again. Not even he knew that it was over for him.  
Skunk, Blackballa, and Spirit went into the principal's office just as they said they would. Skunk was standing right by the principal, where Sonic usually stood. It seemed fit because they were both great heroes in some ways. After a small confrontation, the trio went outside of the principal's office. Drake was searching his cards. He found Kyosuke in a game, called 'Maybe Tonight'. Confused, he turned away to follow Black and Skunk.  
Shortly after that, Black shouted out to Skunk and Spirit, "FOREST NOW!" Spirit jumped back as if something strange was about to happen. His intentions were right once again. Skunk and Spirit followed Black, but his decision changed. Now he wanted to go to the caves. The trio went into the teleporter. They cleared the first room easily. After a few minutes, Black paused. Skunk repeated the joke that Spirit had made, "Alright, now kill us!" Black put an evil smile on his face. "Be right back then." He made a telepipe and went through.  
Skunk fell back in shock. "He's gone mad!" Spirit looked on at the situation. "So... you think you can kill the Spiritchaser?" Skunk widened his mouth even more and quickly replied, "Yes!" Spirit turned around going to the next room. "Well, then you're wrong!" Drake withdrew a sword, equipped it, and launched a head-on assault on a number of Evil Sharks approaching the team. They all fell to the ground. Skunk fell back again in shock, but this movement tripped a trap in the room. It paralyzed Skunk from attacking. A number of Poison Lilies appeared, attempting to poison Spiritchaser. The attack was successful. While Spirit was trying to heal himself, a black figure came from the telepipe. Of course, it was Blackballa. He immediately started chasing Skunk around the room.  
"Help, Spirit!" Skunk cried out. Drake was trying to keep himself from being poisoned to death. There was really nothing he could do at the time. Finally, though, he healed himself with the Anti technique. The effect even healed Skunk. Skunk escaped from Black quickly, lunging over to the Poison Lilies, knocking them down and out.  
Black paused again. "Hmm..." He made another telepipe, dropped a few items, and then went in." This gave the duo of Skunk and Spirit some breathing room. Drake jumped back up. "I think I relied on him too much. It's one enemy after another!" "We've gotta think of something! He's coming back!"  
More Poison Lilies appeared. Drake and Skunk attacked them with great force. When the last Poison Lily was took down, the black figure reappeared. A dark technique came out of his body hitting Skunk directly. It was Megid, a curse of death. Skunk fell to the ground dead. It was all up to Spirit now.  
"SO HERO, COME AND GET ME, OR ARE YOU SCARED??" "What has happened to you??" "OH, NOTHING AT ALL!" Black ran towards Spirit at full speed attempting to launch the curse of death at him. It missed thankfully. Spirit quickly healed himself from every attack Black launched at him. His energy was running out though. Spirit was running out of technique power. Eventually, his TP ran out, but a trifluid was on the ground. Spirit grabbed it, drank it, and restored his energy. Black laughed a hidious laugh. Spirit tryed to run for the door, but a black mist came out of nowhere and hit him. It was Megid. Spirit fell to the ground dead.  
Black stood above Spirit laughing constantly. Drake was silent. Skunk was shocked so badly, he could barely stand it. After long minutes of sadness and failure, the laughing stopped.  
Black clenched his head tightly. Then he started screaming. "FALTZ!! FALTZ!!!! STOP, FALTZ!!" A ray of light started repeatingly sprouting from Black's body. After a few seconds, the ray of light revived Spiritchaser. Black screamed out, "SPIRIT, STOP mmEE!!" "What's happening to you??" "I'm bEInG cONTrOllEd By FaLTTZ!!!" "What is Faltz? The name is very similar to Dark Falz!" "It'S GooTTa BbEE hhIIM. AGHHhhHHHH!!" Black was struggling to keep his normal self intact. "KiLL mEE, SpppIIRTT!! dOO iT nOOW!" "I can't! I don't have PK!" "UsEE THE... AGHHHHHH!!!" "Use the what!???" Black ran towards the next room quickly. He had a walk-through-wall code on. Black started walking through the walls trying to get away from Spiritchaser. Skunk was going insane as well from the frustration. "Spiritchaser, you are sad. Blackballa, you are hopeless." Spirit kept struggling to ask Black what to use, until finally his body disappeared into the dust. He was gone.  
Drake looked into the stiff, cold air. Now that this 'Faltz' character was gone, he could revive Skunk and get out of there, but he asked to himself, "Was Skunk the same way as Blackballa?" Drake walked over to the dead body of Skunk. "I can revive you... or I can leave you here..." Skunk cried out in sad agony. "Please! Revive me!" Spiritchaser stared longer at Skunk. Little did he know, something was behind him.  
"Allow me," said Blackballa, who was back. As soon as he reached out his hand to revive Skunk, Faltz's energy started flowing through him again. At the same time though, Drake used Reverser on Skunk. These two techniques, one from good, one from evil. A huge ray of light came out of Skunk, and he was alive. Skunk clenched his fists. "THIS POWER... IT FEELS GREAT!"  
Drake slowly turned. Then he walked away from the scene. Black attacked Skunk again in the process, but Spirit really didn't care. He was heading for his benefactor, the portal to Pioneer 2.  
"Hurry! He's coming for you!" Skunk yelled out. Spirit set a device onto the portal to Ragol, but out of nowhere once again, a blast came from the walls. Blackballa was attacking Spiritchaser again! Megid came out of the walls once again, hitting Spirit. He was dead again.  
With his last few breaths, Spirit whispered, "This teleporter... has a device on it... If you go in the portal.... you will be destroyed... permanently...!" Black smiled. Looking at Spirit, he then said, "Thank you... my friend..." Then he went into the portal. It looked like Black was gone on his own free will. Drake was dead. Black was supposedly dead. The only one alive was Skunk.  
Then, someone came into the game calling himself "KING OF ALL". A familiar voice filled the air. It was Black's voice. He was still alive! He looked on as King walked over to him. Black snickered with evil. "Hey, wanna PK battle?" King turned back away running for safety. He cursed under his breath, and left the team. Black laughed histerically and continued on his main subject. The only thing left was Skunk.  
"YOU, SKUNK, PUT YOUR CODES ON! WE ARE GOING TO BATTLE!!" Drake was silent. Skunk was talking to Black. "OK, Black, I'll go put them on..." Black laughed again as Skunk went offline to put his codes on.  
As Drake lied in the caves, a silent sound filled the air. About five minutes passed with no events occuring. Then, a figure came out of the teleporter from Ragol. Once again, Blackballa was back.  
"Get up," Black started. With Reverser, he revived Drake. "You will be our referee in this battle!" "Why revive me? Do you wish to torment me with every trick you have?" "Draw your sword. If you want to die, we can finish this." Black got out his Double Saber again, attacking Spirit. In just a few seconds, a sword appeared in Spirit's hand. Black stepped back.  
"Ooooh... the legendary blade...." Drake stood silently ready for battle as Black continued, "Hahahah! I'm really scared! Please, call for help! Ha ha!" "Shut up, Falz. Stop playing around." "Can we stop this foolishness? It's getting a bit old here." "Well, if you want to finish this, hit me!" As Spirit commanded, Black attacked Spirit quickly. A red light came out of Spirit. For once, it wasn't blood. The green barrier was around Spirit again. He was invincible.  
Now Drake was the one in the driver's seat. "So, Black, how does it feel to be the losing one now?" "NO, STOP!" "OKAY, I'LL PUT YOU OUT OF YOUR MISERY! WITH THIS ONE ATTACK, YOU WILL DIE!" Black stepped back to try and escape, but it was too late.  
A photon blast appeared from Drake. It launched. Black screamed a final cry, and when the blast was over, he was frozen. Faltz's physical form appeared for a split second, and then everything just faded away. Black was gone, and Faltz was certainly gone. It was over.  
Drake fell to the ground in fatigue as Skunk rejoined the game. Drake spoke. "Well, that takes care of him..." Skunk fell back in shock. "DID YOU MURDER HIM??" "I had to..." Drake made a telepipe and went in saying, "Heh heh."  
The hero returned on Pioneer 2, greeting Skunk. Skunk was shocked as ever. He wondered how Spirit could have beaten Black. Well, it happened. As Spirit walked away, he looked up and said, "Spiritchaser never dies." Revenge is served. _______________________________________________________________ Afterward ___________________________  
Episode 1 really did end like this. This was basically a mirror image of what I saw the story as. I really liked this episode because of all of the moments it had where I could basically just remember the happenings that I had once done in my life. The next episode, Episode 2, will be mostly the time where the story really kicks in. You're going to really have to look closely to see some of the opening storylines in Episode 2 and the following. It's just like a real game with side storylines and the such! But when all of the side story lines end, they all come down to one huge event that will blow your mind! _______________________________________________________________ 


End file.
